The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India today signed a $96.3 million loan agreement to provide safe drinking water and improve water supply and sanitation services in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Signatories to the Himachal Pradesh Drinking Water and Rural Livelihood Project were Mr. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, who signed on behalf of the Government of India, and Mr. Takeo Konishi, Director, ADB, India, who signed for ADB.
After signing the loan agreement, Mr. Mishra said the project is in line with the Government of India’s Jal Jeevan mission, which aims to provide potable water to all rural households by 2024, and will improve water supply infrastructure and strengthen institutional capacity to ensure a safe, sustainable and inclusive rural water supply and sanitation services.
“ADB’s involvement in the project will provide water management best practices, strengthen institutional capacity and lead tariff reform,” added Mr. Konishi. “These interventions will address the government’s objective of providing uninterrupted pressurized water supply to households, including sanitation services, strengthening operations and maintenance for sustainable service delivery and building the capacity of relevant staff.”
More than 90% of the state’s rural population has access to potable water, but the water supply infrastructure needs to be overhauled to achieve efficient and improved quality of service. The ADB project will connect 75,800 households and provide uninterrupted water supply to about 3,70,000 residents in 10 districts. To improve water supply and sanitation services, the project aims to build 48 groundwater wells, 80 surface water abstraction facilities, 109 water treatment plants, 117 pumping stations and 3,000 km of water pipelines.
A pilot faecal sludge management and sanitation program will also be implemented in Sirmaur district, benefiting 250,000 residents. The project will strengthen the capacity of Himachal Pradesh government’s Jal Shakti Vibhag and village gram panchayat (local government) water and sanitation committees. It will support state governments’ water tariff policy reforms and implement a state-level asset management system and district asset management plans. Key project stakeholders and community organizations will be trained in water management, including livelihood training for women’s self-help groups. ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while continuing its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. It was founded in 1966 and has 68 members – 49 from the region.
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