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Roads and Highways Department

department · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
—
Role
Chief Engineer
Annual budget
—
Staff
9331
Established
1962
Legal basis
The Highways Act, 1925 (primary statute governing national highways); established by government notification in 1962 splitting the colonial-era Construction & Building organisation into Roads and Highways Department and Public Works Department; operates under the Rules of Business 1996.

Managing a Tk 32,329 crore ADP portfolio (FY2025-26, via parent RTHD) with three flagship corridors in contention: (1) Dhaka-Chittagong N1 corridor 10-lane expansion ($5.5 billion, ADB financing talks active); (2) Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway (58% complete, deadline slipping past July 2026); (3) BRT Line-3 Dhaka-Gazipur (97% complete, lane-separation design abandoned, fate with new government). Dhaka Bypass Expressway (first 18 km) opened August 2025 -- implemented under PPP outside RHD's direct ADP envelope. TIB's October 2024 audit exposed systemic procurement corruption (23-40% loss rate) with no formal RHD response or reform circular issued as of verification date.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

RHD established in 1962 when the colonial-era Construction & Building organisation was split into RHD and Public Works Department. Road network figures from the official RHD website: 20,866.36 km as of the most recent AtGlance page (up from 2,500 km at establishment). Sanctioned staff: 9,331 posts (573 Class I, 773 Class II, 4,759 Class III, 3,226 Class IV) per RHD Overview page; the 9,369 figure cited in some secondary sources appears to be a slightly older snapshot. current_head set to null: AKM Manir Hossain Pathan was confirmed as Chief Engineer in February 2022 (Financial Express, Dhaka Tribune); a subsequent appointment (Ishaque) was reported in December 2022; further reshuffles likely followed the August 2024 interim government and the February 2026 BNP election; the RHD chief engineer profile page (https://www.rhd.gov.bd/VVIPProfile/chiefengineer.asp) was not accessible in search results, and no 2025-2026 appointment announcement was found in public media at verification date. Reporting agents should check rhd.gov.bd directly before populating this field. annual_budget_bdt omitted: RHD's standalone ADP allocation is not disaggregated from the RTHD Tk 32,329.57 crore envelope in publicly accessible budget documents; the parent file (road-transport-and-highways-division.json) carries the division-level figure. TIB 2024 report: executive summary PDF published October 2024 at ti-bangladesh.org; figure range Tk 29,230-50,835 crore represents low-end and high-end corruption loss estimates over FY2009-10 to FY2023-24; 23-40% corruption rate applies to total RHD construction contract values. BRT Line-3: ADB and AFD jointly financed; original cost Tk 2,039.84 crore in 2012; current estimate Tk 6,597.32 crore (4th revision proposed, 223% overrun); physical completion 97.69% for RHD scope (16 km road + 6 flyovers + 25 stations + 2 terminals). Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway: Tk 17,553.04 crore; China Exim Bank loan Tk 9,692 crore; contractor China National Machinery Export Import Corporation (CMC); 58% complete per TBS report of 11 May 2026. Dhaka Bypass Expressway: implemented under PPP by Sichuan Road & Bridge (Group) Co. Ltd; 48 km total; first 18 km (Bhogra Bypass, Gazipur to Madanpur) inaugurated 24-25 August 2025. Verification based on 2+ primary sources for all material claims.

Sources