Kathmandu, August 12 :

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a $55.2 million grant for Nepal to help expand and rehabilitate the feeder road system to improve access to market, jobs, and health and education centres in the rural areas.

Issuing a press release, the Manila-headquartered the bank said that the grant has been provided from the ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF). Poor road connectivity is a major development constraint for Nepal, and inadequate feeder roads, or access roads, worsen the isolation of remote rural areas, mostly in northern hilly regions.

“Rehabilitating and expanding feeder roads will help promote inclusive social and economic development,” says Nianshan Zhang, an ADB portfolio management specialist. “Improved access of remote people to social facilities and jobs in major towns will foster a socio-economic development process that can lead to a steady decline in poverty,” he added.

The project will construct and upgrade 10 feeder roads and one bridge, to a total of about 490-km, serving poor, isolated people mainly in hilly areas, adds the release. This covers the construction of new roads to three district headquarters that are currently not connected to the national highway and the upgrading of existing district roads to all-weather condition in 17 of the country’s 75 districts, affecting about 1.4 million people. The prospective roads are included in the government’s 10-year Road Sector Midterm Programme.

In addition, a $300,000 technical assistance grant accompanies the project to help the department of roads carry out feasibility studies and to local construction and consulting services industries in road construction and contract management.