Money
Road projects: Govt told to allot budget for army
The Development Committee of Legislative Parliament on Sunday directed the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) to disburse the amount allocated to the Nepal Army (NA) in the current fiscal year for the construction of road projects within 15 days.The Development Committee of Legislative Parliament on Sunday directed the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) to disburse the amount allocated to the Nepal Army (NA) in the current fiscal year for the construction of road projects within 15 days.
Stating the army’s work on projects like Karnali and Kaligandagi corridors, and Dolpa-Dunai, Mailung-Syafrubeshi and Gulmi-Baglung roads is effective, the committee directed the government to resolve issues related to import of explosives through diplomatic channels at the possible earliest for facilitating construction.
“Nepal Army has effectively carried out construction works even in tough terrain. There is a need for enhancing coordination between the army, Department of Roads and Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agriculture Road (Dolidar) for expediting road construction,” the committee directive reads.
According to the government, Nepal has 52,000km road network. Given 83 percent of Nepal’s land mass lies in the hilly region, road construction is not easy. It is costlier too.
The committee also directed the government to expedite the process of initiating the construction of Benighat-Aarughat-Larkebhanjyang road. The army has been authorised to build this section.
Identifying issues such as right of way, land acquisition, dilly-dally in environmental impact assessment, unavailability of construction materials, failure of contractor to accomplish designated tasks on time and unavailability of modern technology as major roadblocks to road construction, the committee directed the Office of the Prime Minister and line agencies like the Finance Ministry, Defence Ministry, Physical Infrastructure Ministry and National Planning Commission, among others, to solve the issue.
Stating road is prerequisite for infrastructure development, the committee also directed the government to increase allocation of resources for the development of road network by at least double and focus on specific parameters as well as the length of road network required for the country.