Roads and Highways Department
Profile
- Head
- n/a
- Role
- Chief Engineer
- Annual budget
- n/a
- 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.
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. Activity evidence hold: removed 2 exact generated refresh event(s) on read. Generated scores, positions, activity actions and verification stamps are unavailable. Retained events and unmatched action text require source review; original raw records are unchanged.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_and_Highways_Department
- https://www.rhd.gov.bd/RHDAtGlance/index.asp
- https://www.rhd.gov.bd/OverviewOfRHD/Default.asp
- https://www.rhd.gov.bd/Strategy/RHD/View.asp
- https://www.ti-bangladesh.org/images/2024/report/RHD/Executive-Summary-RHD-Governance-Challenges-en.pdf
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/roads-and-highways-projects-tk-50835cr-lost-graft-15yrs-3723626
- https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/z7xt4wnqbg
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/215340
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/infrastructure/dhaka-ctg-corridor-10-lane-highway-or-fully-elevated-1416971
- https://www.adb.org/projects/45174-001/main
- https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/282935/first-ever-bus-rapid-transit-line-project-may-end-without-dedicated-bus-lanes
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/transport/news/dhaka-gazipur-brt-shelved-after-spending-tk-2800cr-13yrs-4008491
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka_BRT
- https://www.daily-sun.com/post/788879
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka%E2%80%93Ashulia_Elevated_Expressway
- https://english.news.cn/20250825/e14bc4cc765749d49ac138eb4638fa35/c.html
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/383170/dhaka-bypass-expressway-opens-toll-free-for-eid
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka_Bypass_Expressway
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/362326
- https://eservices.rthd.gov.bd/foreign_project.php
- https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/manir-hossain-new-rhd-chief-engineer-1644680413
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/287151/monir-hossain-appointed-chief-engineer-of-rhd