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Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation Facilities for Poor Rural Communities in Punjab, Pakistan

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (2 December 2002) - About 2,500 poor rural communities in Punjab Province, Pakistan, with an estimated population of 2.3 million, will get safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, with the help of an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan approved for US$50 million equivalent.

The Punjab Community Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project will target areas with scarce or brackish water supply and seasonal rainfall.

Almost half of Punjab's population of 84 million relies on unsafe water, such as uncovered wells, rivers, and rain- or canal-fed ponds. Further, little more than one quarter of the rural population has access to household latrines.

Under the project:

• About 500 community water supply and drainage facilities will be built, and another 250 inoperative ones rehabilitated
• A hygiene education program will be carried out, supported by educational material and service vehicles. A fund will also be set up to assist villagers in installing household latrines.
• Local government institutions will be strengthened, in line with the Government's decentralization reforms
• A Social Uplift and Poverty Eradication Program (SUPER) will tackle poverty, particularly among women and children. This will bring microcredit to women to fund activities such as handicrafts, embroidery, and livestock rearing. Classrooms will be built to accommodate children who no longer have to spend time fetching water. SUPER will be piloted in 30 villages initially and expanded to the rest of the project area if successful

"A sizable reduction in waterborne diseases is expected, but the overall development impact of this project goes far beyond health, as noted from phase I of the project," says Shakeel Khan, ADB Urban Development Specialist. "Safe drinking water and sanitation will significantly help reduce poverty. It will also foster better education, gender development, environmental improvement, and better use of human resources."

The total project cost is estimated at US$71.4 million equivalent, of which US$16.8 million equivalent will come from the Government and US$4.6 million equivalent from the beneficiaries.

ADB's loan comes from its concessional Asian Development Fund and carries a term of 32 years, including a grace period of eight years. Interest is 1.0% per annum during the grace period and 1.5% per annum subsequently.

The executing agency for the project, which is due for completion by end-2006, is the Housing, Urban Development, and Public Health Engineering Department of Punjab.

More at adb.org/media

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