Nainital
New Delhi: The Asian Development Bank would provide $ 125 million loan to improve access to safe and affordable drinking water supply and citywide inclusive sanitation services in Dehradun and Nainital in Uttarakhand. Another $150 million ADB loan would provide affordable housing for urban poor in Tamil Nadu.
The ADB today signed the loan agreement with the Government of India for the two projects respectively in Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.
In Uttarakhand, the project will construct 136 kilometers (km) of water pipe system to replace defective water networks in South Dehradun to ensure reliable and continuous water supply to benefit an estimated 40,000 people, including 4,000 urban poor and vulnerable groups. Water meters will also be installed in about 5,400 households to support efficient water use and consumption billing.
In addition, the project will establish sewage treatment plants in Dehradun, supported by 256 km of enclosed underground sewer networks and 117 km of storm water drainage networks benefiting an estimated 138,000 residents, including 15,000 urban poor and vulnerable people. A total of 17,410 households in Dehradun will be connected to this sewerage system. Replacing the aging sewage treatment plant with a new one using advanced technology, and trunk sewer rehabilitation in Nainital, the project will ensure resilient and reliable sanitation services to the entire population of about 154,000 people.
ADB will provide a $250,000 technical assistance (TA) grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and another $750,000 grant from its Climate Change Fund to further strengthen climate-resilient urban planning and development of the state by carrying out a thorough assessment, supporting science-based decision making, developing smart climate resilient urban planning tools, and capacity-building activities.
In Tamil Nadu, where nearly half of the state’s 72 million population lives in urban areas making it one of the most urbanized states in India, through the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, the project will construct housing units in nine different locations and relocate about 6,000 households vulnerable to natural hazards to safer locations. It will also help Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Town and Country Planning develop regional plans to map the state’s economic and infrastructure development including affordable housing, environmental protection, disaster risk management, and gender.
A portion of ADB’s assistance will be invested by the state government as equity into the Tamil Nadu Shelter Fund to catalyze private sector financing and support investments mainly in industrial housing and working women’s hostels for low-income and migrant workers.
In addition, ADB will provide a $1.5 million technical assistance (TA) grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund to support the capacity building of government agencies responsible for delivering affordable housing and regional planning in Tamil Nadu. The TA will document successful approaches to affordable housing delivery, including the graduation programme for vulnerable relocated beneficiaries, that can be adopted in other cities and countries.
– global bihari bureau
