Nepal short of Rs 21b to develop roads to meet MDG

KATHMANDU, AUG 25 -The country needs an additional Rs 21 billion to develop the road sector to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets within 2015. Although the MDG has no direct target for road infrastructure, it plays a major role in mobility and accessibility to help realise the goals for other sectors.

The MDG Needs Assessment Report for Nepal 2010 released on Wednesday stated that the country had a resource gap of Rs 20.97 billion for the next five years to work as per the MDG for road sector development. Compared to the total requirement of Rs 264.34 billion, the available resources amount to Rs 243.37 billion for 2011-15.

Pushpa Lal Shakya, joint secretary at the National Planning Commission, said that there were possibilities of fulfilling or narrowing the gap by increasing investments through public-private partnership, foreign direct investment in the road sector and best utilising the foreign aid received.

“We have not been able to effectively use the resources provided by donors, and there are also chances to attract more aid increasing result-oriented work performance,” he added.

Each year, the government has been putting a lot of money into road development, however, the resources allocated have been concentrated on opening new road tracks. In the current fiscal year, the government has set aside Rs 37.16 billion for the transport sector with the prime focus on construction of big road projects like the Mid-Hills Highway, Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, North-South Corridor roads and postal highways in the Tarai.

Normally, there is a trend of utilising various grants provided to local bodies mostly for new track opening based on local people’s demand. The study jointly conducted by the National Planning Commission and the United Nations Development Programme has underscored the need to discourage such tendencies as they will have no significant contribution in terms of expanding the local road network.

An official at the Department of Roads said that many road projects get started based on the interest of local people and political leaders without having a long-term vision in socio-economic terms.

“Roads are not the solution. The solution is what it gives you in return after coming into operation,” the official said.

According to the report, during the next five-year period, 565 km of the strategic road network has to be improved or widened, 5,125 km of roads have to be completed with surface dressing or sealing, 10,066 km of roads have to be maintained routinely, 5,755.6 km of roads have to be upgraded and 1,860 km of roads have to be gravelled. Similarly, 2,943 km of local roads have to be constructed, 4,830 km of roads have to be upgraded from dirt to gravel, 16,611 km of roads need to be maintained based on the targets expected by the end of the MDG period.

In 2011, the government will have to widen 95 km of roads, construct 396 km of new earthen roads and directly blacktop 1,075.1 km of the Strategic Road Network. Likewise, under the Local Road Network, the government will have to construct 493 km of new earthen roads, 29 motorable bridges and 400 trail bridges with resources for both networks amounting to Rs 42.23 billion. This year, there is a resource gap of Rs 1.59 billion.

Nepal  has a 19,758-km road network including 7,500 km of district roads and 71 out of the 75 districts have been connected to the strategic road network. Of the entire road network, maintainable local roads total 14,293 km. “Each kilometre of all types of public roads serves about 890 people,” states the report. “Considering only the Strategic Road Network including district and urban roads, each kilometre serves 1,310 people.”

The report has emphasized the need for continued development and management of the roads with high priority. “Huge investment needs and low traffic volumes along with the absence of holistic, coordinated and integrated development programmes have limited the full socio-economic benefits that could be achieved from the transport sector,” states the report.