Govt approves Tk4,963.67cr project to rehabilitate rural roads nationwide
The project will rehabilitate 5,223km of rural roads and reconstruct 7,000 metres of bridges and culverts on a priority basis.
The government has approved a Tk4,963.67 crore project to rehabilitate rural roads and reconstruct damaged bridges and culverts across the country on a priority basis.
The "Rural Road Rehabilitation and Strengthening" project was approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) held today (19 August) at the NEC conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair.
Planning State Minister Zonayed Saki disclosed the details of the approved projects at a press briefing after the meeting.
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The project has been taken up to keep rural road infrastructure operational and support economic activity across the country, he said. Under the project, 5,223km of rural roads will be rehabilitated and 7,000 metres of severely damaged bridges and culverts will be reconstructed on a priority basis.
According to the project proposal, Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated and rapidly developing countries, with around 70% of its population living in rural areas. Improving the quality of life of the rural population is therefore directly linked to the development of rural infrastructure. According to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), there are 410,530.94km of rural roads across the country.
Of these, 167,181.94km are currently paved. The paved network includes 34,567.48km of upazila roads, 34,382.19km of union roads and 98,232.27km of village roads.
The total length of bridges and culverts along village roads stands at 219,971 metres. Of the 98,232.27km of paved village roads, around 31,434.32km are currently damaged, according to the project proposal.
The proposed rehabilitation work will be selected based on assessments and priority, while the most severely damaged bridges and culverts will be reconstructed.
The project is expected to improve connectivity for rural communities, facilitate the movement of all types of vehicles and reduce the need for accumulated rehabilitation work. It is also expected to strengthen rural economic activity, create employment opportunities and contribute to poverty reduction by improving access to markets and other economic centres.
Meanwhile, the Ecnec meeting approved a total of 10 projects involving Tk9,333.58 crore, according to the briefing.
