DHAKA, Jul 12 (NNN-BSS) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), has approved 190 million U.S. dollars, in additional funding for the ongoing Rural Connectivity Improvement Project in Bangladesh.
“This is ADB’s second additional financing for the project, further expanding improvement of rural road networks and introducing innovative features in climate and disaster resilience and road asset management, to enhance living conditions in rural areas in Bangladesh,” Masahiro Nishimura, principal rural development specialist of the environment, natural resources, and agriculture division, in the South Asia department of the ADB, said in a statement, yesterday.
“This project is helping improve transport efficiency and reliability in rural areas, boost agricultural productivity, and generate employment to help the country’s sustainable economic growth,” he said.
According to the statement, the ongoing project, originally approved in Nov, 2018, aimed to upgrade about 1,700 km rural roads, strengthen the capacity of rural infrastructure agencies and road users, and improve rural road master planning.
More than 900 km rural roads have been added to the original target since 2020.
This latest loan will further extend the improvement of another 1,350 km rural roads with all-weather standards, climate resilience, and safety features, according to the statement.
It will provide equipment and trucks to 180 mobile road maintenance offices, at the upazila (subdistrict) level.– NNN-BSS