The government has taken initiatives to set up rest areas on four key highways of the country to give comfort and rest to the tired long-route truck and bus drivers.
“The Planning Commission has already received a draft project to this end and it is awaiting approval of the ECNEC after necessary formalities,” said a senior Planning Commission official.
The official told BSS that the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges initiated the move to build such modern rest areas following earlier directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Road Transport and Highways Department will implement the proposed project by June 2020 with an estimated cost of Taka 234 crore. “Planning Minister MA Mannan has approved the project which also aims to reduce road accidents on the four national highways through ensuring necessary rest and other facilities to the tired truck and bus drivers.” added the official. Earlier on May 9 last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, at an ECNEC meeting, asked the authorities concerned to take initiatives for setting up rest areas along the highways for the long-route bus and truck drivers.
Such rest areas for the bus and truck drivers are also there in India and other countries.
The Planning Commission official said the Prime Minister gave the directive while
giving approval to the SASEC 2: Joydevpur-Chandra-Tangail-Elenga Highway upgradation to four-lane project.After that, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges initiated a move to frame the project to build a sustainable and safe highway network. Talking to the news agency, another official at the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges said that under the project, four rest areas would be built along the Dhaka-Chattogram, Dhaka-Sylhet, Dhaka-Rangpur and Dhaka-Khulna Highways. These rest areas would have all the modern facilities like arrangement for night accommodation, entertainment facilities, snacks and soft drinks for the long-route truck and bus drivers.
The main project operations include some 42 bighas of land acquisition, 26,280 cubic meter road embankment construction, 6,05,144 cubic meter land development, 93,165 square meter rigid pavement construction, construction of 8,760 square meter flexible pavement and construction of 2,503 meter mediun. Besides, there will be construction of 1,863 square meter two-storey buildings, 3,123 meter cover RCC drain, 3,003 meters of footpath.
