With the road network expanding, lower budgetary allocation for road development and maintenance work in this fiscal year is likely to put the authorities concerned in a fix.
Although budgetary allocation for this sector sees an increase every fiscal year, the government has slashed the fund by eight per cent in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
Sources said the reduced allocation has made the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) review its projects as the ongoing flood situation made things worse.
"We are now monitoring and trying to assess the impacts of the flood situation which is worsening," said a RHD official.
Since fiscal year (FY) 2011-12, the RHD has been receiving higher allocation each fiscal year, compared to the previous fiscal, which helped it improve the road network gradually, he said.
But as the government has focused more on reviving the economy hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has set aside Tk 172.17 billion for the road development and maintenance work for FY 2020-21, which is 8.0 per cent lower than the allocation for the previous fiscal.
Sources said the RHD was allotted Tk 186.82 billion to implement 206 projects in FY 2019-20.
RHD officials said that although allocation for periodical maintenance budget is yet to be announced, there always exists a huge demand gap. The backlog of work always puts burden on the RHD, as its prime responsibility is to construct and maintain major roads to ensure safe road journey.
But the RHD always faces criticism for failing to carry out the road maintenance work. Its officials attributed the failure to two causes: the fund is inadequate and the RHD does not receive the fund timely.
According to the official data, the RHD has been receiving higher allocation every fiscal year since FY 2011-12 because of the increasing number of projects and growing demand for maintenance. The increase in allocation ranges from 7.0 per cent to 36 per cent.
In FY 2013-14, the department received the highest ever allocation of Tk 13 billion for the road maintenance work under a separate project after the road network in most parts of the country became dilapidated.
The budget for RHD has surged 797.27 per cent in the last 11 years since FY 2008-09 as the road network has expanded to over 22,000 km from around 2,200 km during the period.
RHD officials said the allocation this year has been lower, but the number of projects is the highest ever.
Contacted, RHD chief engineer Kazi Shahriar Hossain said the department is working out how to maintain the road network during the current fiscal year with the allocation made in the budget.
According to the RHD data, the department has utilised an average of 99 per cent of the allocation every year since FY 2011-12. But in the last fiscal year, it could spend 86.93 per cent of the allocation.
