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Ensuring better road network

6.82 lakh metres of bridge-culvert needed

. Mithun Kamal
The country needs 6.82 lakh metres of bridge and culvert in rural roads to ensure better road condition where the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has taken up plan to construct only 19,961 meters this fiscal, the officials of the department said on Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of home-bound people may not be able to reach their home ahead of Eid on time due to the dilapidated condition of highways and rural roads. Inadequate and risky bridges and culverts turned the situation worst. 
The road network of the country is now in hazardous condition, which turned more risky after the recent heavy rain, causing a serious problem to movement of vehicles and pedestrians, LGED officials said.
 "Bridge and culverts are the important part of the better road networks and without them construction of the road are meaningless," Md Wahidur Rahman, Chief Engineer of LGED, told The New Nation on Sunday.
 "We will construct 19,961 metres of bridge and culverts this fiscal, the estimated cost of which is Tk 569 crore," he said.
 "The more we construct bridge and culverts, the better for the countryman," he said fearing that fund crunch might slow down the pace of work.
 "A 1836,848-metre network of bridge and culvert is needed for the country, whereas 1154,406 metres are developed in three categories on upazila, union and village roads, the chief engineer of LGED, said. 
The rest 682,441 metres of bridge and culvert is needed to be constructed to ensure better road management, Rahman said.
Mohammad Roushan Kabir, Superintendent Engineer (maintenance), said, "Some 62,217 metres of bridges and culverts are needed in upazila roads across the country, of them, 57,858 metres were constructed and the rest 4,359 metres will be constructed." 
A total of 58,917 networks of bridge-culverts was constructed, out of 66,963 metres in union roads, and the rest 4,359 metres are needed to be built, Kabir said.
As many as 425,593 metres bridges and culverts are needed in those roads while 305,491 metres were constructed and the rest 120,103 metres are to be built, he added.
Some 186,066 metres bridges and culverts are needed in the village roads, while 112,570 metres remained in good position and the rest 63,496 metres to be constructed, Kabir said, adding that under the village roads 946,798 metres of bridge and culverts are required where 479,265 metres have been constructed and the rest 467,542 metres would be completed.