ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank on Friday approved a $320 million loan to support the rehabilitation and improve climate-resilience, safety of roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that will help enhancing safe and all-weather connectivity in rural areas.

The ADB Resident Mission announced on Friday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Roads Development Project will upgrade around 900 kilometres of rural roads in the province that are susceptible to floods and are in poor condition.

According to the geospatial analysis, almost 40 per cent of the rural population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (about 14 million people) needs to travel more than 60 minutes to access a health facility, the second highest in the country.

The part of the rural population that needs to travel more than 30 minutes to access schools are: 85pc for primary school, 90pc for middle school, and 92pc for secondary school.

Rural roads to be made climate-resilient under the project

These cover key routes that link remote communities to education, health care and markets. The project includes measures to incorporate climate-resilient design, road safety enhancement and sustainable maintenance practices.

The project is designed to address challenges associated with the people’s lack of access to public services in rural areas, the loss of serviceability of roads damaged by the floods in 2022, and limited sustainability in road assets through rehabilitation of prioritised rural roads and execution and/or implementation of output and performance-based contracts.

“Road transport is both a lifeline to the people and a key component of socioeconomic development in the country. This vital infrastructure project will reduce travel time, lower transportation costs, and increase access to economic opportunities for millions of people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.

“By providing better access to markets and services, we are empowering local communities and driving inclusive economic growth in one of Pakistan’s most underserved regions,” he said.

Annual rainfall and temperature patterns have significantly increased in parts of the province, and the lack of resilient infrastructure escalated the impact of disasters on people and livelihoods. Flooding events since 2010 have substantially damaged the road network, hampering connectivity and escalating transportation costs.

The project will offer technical and financial support to assist the government in preparing long-term targeted interventions that will enhance the climate resilience and sustainability of the province’s road network. “The ADB will help the government conduct a comprehensive study on flood susceptibility, with a focus on landslide vulnerability across the province, to identify priority roads,” said ADB Senior Transport Specialist Seunghyun Kim. “We will support the government in preparing concessional contracts for the operation and maintenance of two tourism roads, which will contribute to the sustainability of the road network.”

About 85pc of the people in the valley live in rural areas, where access to public service is not only poor, but also deteriorating. Basic public service provision in the province stands behind the national average, partially due to the area’s geographic characteristics that make service delivery a challenge.

In contrast to central districts, the province’s northern and southern districts, for example, confront significant challenges in providing access to decent public services.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024