Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli laid foundation stones for 165 new road projects, one in each House of Representatives constituency, during a special function in Kathmandu on Saturday.

The Department of Roads, on the other hand, claims that it does not have a complete list of the roads being built across the country. Furthermore, the latest projects’ comprehensive project reports and environmental impact assessment reports have yet to be completed.

As a result of the lawmakers’ pressure, the government included a project to develop a new road in each constituency in its annual budget plan for this fiscal year.

According to Shiva Prasad Nepal, the department’s deputy director-general, the lawmakers have submitted their proposal, but the list has yet to be finalized. “We estimate that the overall length of the roads would be about 2,200 kilometers.”

For this year, the government has set aside Rs 3.2 billion for the project. It will need an additional Rs 54 billion over the next two years, but the government has no idea where the money will come from.

Oli’s haste to start the initiative, according to officials from the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Management, is nothing more than a political stunt.