The government has taken up a Tk 4,988.14 crore mega project for building capacity of the government agencies concerned to ensure road safety.
The project titled "Bangladesh Road Safety" has already got approval from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), said Planning Minister MA Mannan.
Of the project cost, the World Bank will give Tk 3760 crore as a soft loan while the remaining Tk 1,228 crore will come from the government fund, said an official of the Planning Commission.
The project, aiming at reducing casualties and damage due to accidents, will be implemented from May 2023 to June 2028, he added.
The government has set a target to bring down the death rate in road accidents to 13 per lakh by 2025.
The Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Bangladesh Police and Health Directorate will implement the project.
The works under the project include acquisition of 116 acres of land, undertaking road safety activities on pilot basis in 140- km four-lane and six-lane road corridors, priority-based activities, road safety activities in Tangail and Bogra districts, training of professional drivers, and capacity building of implementing agencies.
Several consultants will be appointed under the project.
Basic life saving equipment, and logistics for administration, call centre, integrated database software, hardware maintenance and cloud hosting, and bikes and ambulances will be purchased.
Steps for adequate rehabilitation work will be taken too.
Besides, construction of five highway police training centres, renovation work of emergency room of Tangail Sadar Hospital, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and Mugda General Hospital, and work for better licensing system, integrated database software, hardware maintenance and BRTA cloud hosting will be done.
According to the Ministry of Planning, the project is consistent with the five-year plan.
The Eighth Five Year Plan has set a target of solving all the problems related to road safety by 2041.
A target has been set to bring down the death rate from road accidents to 13 per lakh by 2025.
In addition, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets building safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems by 2030.
As a result, the project proposal is in line with the 8th Five Year Plan and SDG for the development of security system along the 5,140-km road.
If the project is implemented, the number of road accidents will come down and the level of accidental damage will decrease, said Planning Minister MA Mannan.
Besides, the capacity of government agencies related to road safety will increase, he said.
The project has been approved keeping in mind all the related matters, the minister said.
