As rural people are at the centre of any given development plan, the government has undertaken an integrated initiative with extensive programmes in order to develop the country’s rural communication system.
As per the directives of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) has taken up such plan to establish and develop an improved road communication system to the villages across the country.
The plan envisages people’s participation, community mobilization, decision-making and action, confidence building for raising awareness, sharing knowledge, changing attitudes, behavior, and lifestyles.
In this regard, recently a meeting was held between the Local Government Department, Planning Commission, LGED and Roads and Highways Department of the Ministry of Road Communications and Bridges at the Secretariat in the meeting room of the Ministry of Local Government last October to implement this initiative of the government.
Every road standard at the upazila, union, and even village levels will be improved and made sustainable and wider than before. In addition, punishment to the concerned officials responsible for substandard work, as well as the contractor, will be fined twice the estimated cost of the work.
The Local Government Department of the Ministry of LGRD, Planning Commission, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of the Ministry of Road Communications and Bridges will work jointly to implement the plan.
The LGRD Minister, Tajul Islam, said, “Such a plan has been drawn up at the behest of the Prime Minister to build a developed Bangladesh and boost the rural economy. The government wants to remodel the 16 years old road design.”
Therefore, all roads will be constructed according to the new design. The government has taken up such a plan as part of the implementation of the directive to establish an improved road communication system to every village, he added.
The minister furthermore cited that there is no alternative to establishing improved road connectivity to every village in the country. The government’s 2018 election manifesto envisaged a special commitment to implement the ‘My Village My City’ project. So, all the roads including at the local level will be constructed sustainably. Such plans are being made to build a developed Bangladesh and boost the rural economy.
In order to implement this initiative, a feasibility study concerning rural road design has been completed with Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
According to their survey, rural roads have been proposed to be 10 feet, union level 12 feet, Upazila level 18 to 20 feet and industrial area 18 to 36 feet. The matter is currently under process.
Helal Uddin Ahmed, Senior Secretary, Local Government Division, said, “The LGED directorate currently is constructing all rural roads and highways in the country. The LGED department also wants to widen all their roads to boost the rural economy.”
Therefore, it is necessary to determine the measurements for the size of the road mutually. “Depending upon the opinion of the minister, we will determine the size of the road and publish a gazette on the overall issue”, he added.
