KATHMANDU, July 27: The government achieved only one-third of the targeted upgradation of roads in the last fiscal year.

According to the Department of Roads (DoR), it had aimed to blacktop 1,800 km of roads of which only 618 km were constructed during fiscal year 2021/22. The achievement was 34.33 percent of the target.

Likewise, of the targeted construction of 800 km of gravel roads, only 335 km was completed. The department had targeted to construct 350 km of fair weather roads while only 280 km were constructed. Out of 550 km of roads targeted for periodic maintenance, the work progress was seen only on 250 km.  

DoR records show that the infrastructure development posted a pathetic outlook in the last fiscal year. In 2020/21, the DoR set the target to blacktop 1,400 km of roads while the work progress was observed on 1,190 km. It shows that 85 percent of the target was met even when the country was largely affected by COVID-19.

Arjun Jung Thapa, director general of the DoR, said a delay in the implementation of the budget, and construction holiday announced by the contractors were the main causes behind the slow work progress in road construction. Due to this reason, the DoR was unable to utilize Rs 58.17 billion allocated for the construction of roads in the last fiscal year.

According to the DoR, it received a total budget of Rs 129.80 billion for 63 construction projects for fiscal year 2021/22. However, only Rs 71.63 billion was spent on road construction. With its poor performance, the department was able to achieve financial progress of only 55.18 percent in the last fiscal year, way down from 66.27 percent in the previous fiscal year.

Of the 63 projects proposed by the DoR, five did not see any progress in the review period. 

 
• roads_construction
 
• slow
 
• 2021/22