286-km rural road in Gazipur to get facelift

The government has undertaken a project to develop 286 kilometres village road in Gazipur to ease communication and ensure smooth and safe travel for inhabitants in the vicinity.

As part of the development project, the long stretch of rural roads will be macadamized (Paved by laying and compacting successive layers of broken stone, often with asphalt or hot tar).

The Local Government Division has sent a proposal to the Planning Commission in this regard that will require an approval of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, a senior official of the commission told The Business Post.

The cost of the project is estimated at Tk 685 crore which will come from the government exchequer.

The Local Government Engineering Department will implement the project from July 2021 to June 2025.

The project aims to minimise cost in vehicular movement and travel time through developing the village roads.

According to the project proposal, a total of 2294-kilometre road out of 6,694 kilometres under Gazipur district were macadamized.

The main components of the project are five-acre land acquisition apart from construction of 60.74 kilometres upazila road and 87.03 kilometres union and rural road under the district.

The implementing body will develop two markets, construct five bridges and footpaths and improve 10 kilometres drainage system.

According to the Roads and Highways Department, of the total, there are 3,54,000 kilometres rural road in the country.

Of them, 37,000 kilometres are in upazilas, 42,000 in unions and 2,75,000 in villages.

The implementation of the project will facilitate transportation of agricultural goods and products, thus boosting trade and rural economy as well as bringing in socio-economic development and creating new jobs to reduce poverty in the country.