16,160km of new roads to be construct in rural areas in upcoming 3 FYs

The government plans to construct 16,160 kilometres of new roads in rural areas in the upcoming three fiscal years.

The government has allocated Tk46,552 crore for the local government and rural development sector for FY25, which is Tk1,585 crore lower than the revised budget of Tk48,137 crore for FY 2023-24.

Despite decline in allocation, several aspiring development projects have taken place in the budget.

In the proposed budget for FY25, placed in the parliament today (6 June), Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said in the medium-term action plan (from FY 2024-25 to 2026-27), the following targets have been set for the rural sector: constructing 16,160 km of new roads, building 69,000 metres of bridges/culverts, maintaining 27,100 km of paved roads and 56 13,000 metres of bridges/culverts, developing 415 growth centres/markets, constructing and expanding 184 Upazila Parishad complex buildings, constructing 160 cyclone shelters, and many other development works.

"Additionally, for the urban areas, the plan includes construction of 497 km of roads and sidewalks and 282 km of drains. To manage waste efficiently in 12 city corporations and 329 municipalities across the country, steps have been taken to adopt modern waste management technologies used in developed countries. These technologies aim to produce electricity, fuel, and organic fertiliser by incinerating waste in an environment-friendly manner," the minister added.

Mahmood Ali said to close the gap between the amenities in rural and urban areas and ensure equal opportunities for all citizens, various programmes, including the 'My Village, My Town', are being implemented. 

"Special emphasis is given on constructing climate resilient infrastructure to tackle climatic impacts. To enhance the capacity of the local government institutions in addressing the risks and impacts of climate change, the government has undertaken a project called 'Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LoGIC)'. This has earned recognition as a model project for combating the effects of climate change and has received an international award at this year's World Climate Conference (CoP28)," he added.

Mahmood Ali mentioned that in the past 15 years, a total of 78,215 km of paved rural roads have been constructed, 1,25,973 km of paved rural roads have been maintained, 445,807 metres of new bridges have been built, 1,767 Union Parishad complex buildings have been constructed, and 418 Upazila Parishad complex buildings have been constructed/expanded to expand the infrastructural facilities and civic amenities across the country. Additionally, 2,919 growth centres and markets have been developed, and 1,516 cyclone shelters have been constructed/ reconstructed.