Government inks $240 million loan agreement with ADB for WB Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project           

India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed $240 million loan agreement for West Bengal Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project to provide safe drinking water to people in three districts of West Bengal. The project aims at providing safe and sustainable drinking water to people in Bankura, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur affected by arsenic, fluoride and salinity.

West Bengal Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project

The project will help mitigate health risks from using groundwater with elevated levels of arsenic and fluoride that can lead to health problems including cancer and bone diseases.  It will help to reduce burden of diseases from contaminated groundwater. It will also help to mitigate these risks through provision of continuous potable water through metered connections to about 390,000 individual households in three districts.
The project is also supported by grant of $3 million from Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction and $2 million grant from ADB’s Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund. It will support state in strengthening its smart water management system, improve flood-related early warning and response and provide training on operation and maintenance as well as climate change and disaster resilience.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2018