Home ›› 12 Aug 2022 ›› Nation
The infrastructure development projects of the government have been bringing dynamism into rural life and livelihood of the region, enhancing communication network and market facilities, ensuring agri products’ fair price along with creating employment during the last 10-12 years.
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) implemented these projects, boosting agricultural production, smoothing the transport system, easing transportation, and bolstering the rural economy, especially in the vast Barind tract of the region.
More than 64 kilometres upazila roads and 222-kilometre union roads alongside 986-meter bridges and culverts have been constructed for the overall improvement of the transport network of the rural area.
The improved road network has been reducing the transportation cost by creating marketing facilities for agricultural products around the year.
On behalf of the project titled “Greater Rajshahi Division Integrated Rural Development”, 31 rural markets were improved to create short and long-term employment opportunities, socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation.
LGED Additional Chief Engineer KM Zulfikar Ali said the seven-year project has been implemented in 31 upazilas in Rajshahi, Natore, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts at a cost of around Tk 205.35 crore.
He said that the participation of beneficiaries including women and local government institutions in the project’s planning, implementation and maintenance activities were intensified.
Ataur Rahman, Chairman of Badhair Union Parishad, said the uplift projects had infused dynamism into rural socio-economic activities together with bringing a positive change in the livelihood of grassroots people.
Community people have imparted training on campaigning and awareness building on health and nutrition, he said.
Interests of the beneficiary market labourers group and women market traders along with poor women traders were protected through road maintenance.
Roadsides and tree plantation activities on the 159-kilometre improved roads have been done successfully contributing a lot to reducing carbon emission in the vast Barind tract.
Tube-well and sanitary latrines were provided to more than 7,120 poor and marginalised households as the occurrence of water-borne diseases have decreased.
Engineer Zulfikar Ali said the schemes of rural infrastructure development and the creation of short and long-term employment opportunities in the farm and off-farm sectors are assisting the alleviation of rural poverty by involving rural people in economic and social activities.
Work on another project titled “Improvement of Rural Roads, Bridges, Culverts and other Infrastructure of Backward Upazilas” was completed recently involving around Tk 425 crore.
A total of 53 disadvantaged upazilas in seven districts of the division were brought under the six-year project.
More than 105.70-km upazila roads, 323-km union roads and 502.74-km village roads were improved besides the construction of 1000-meter bridges and culverts on the improved roads connecting important places of upazila and every union with Union Parishad and next higher road network.
