MANILA, PHILIPPINES (5 December 2023) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200 million loan as additional financing for the Uttarakhand Integrated and Resilient Urban Development Project to further expand access to reliable water supply and upgrade sanitation facilities in Uttarakhand, India.
“ADB has been working with India to attain the goals of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Swachh Bharat Mission, the country’s urban programs promoting urban water supply and sanitation and stormwater drainage,” said ADB Principal Urban Development Specialist Na Won Kim. “This additional support will improve and enhance the access and delivery of safe drinking water and sanitation services in additional project towns in climate-vulnerable Uttarakhand.”
ADB’s additional financing will construct 817 kilometers (km) of piped water supply network in Haldwani and Tanakpur to ensure 24-hour water supply and incorporate innovative nonrevenue water management using artificial intelligence-based leak detection technologies. It will install water meters in 45,000 poor and vulnerable households to enable efficient water consumption and improve billing. It will build on a $125 million loan approved in November 2021 for water supply and sanitation services in Dehradun and Nainital.
The project will further improve sanitation systems in Dehradun and Haldwani. It will construct a sewage treatment plant with a co-treatment facility using advanced sewage treatment technology, lay down 268 km of sewer pipes and 99 km of stormwater drainage, and connect 12,000 households to the sewer network. For households not connected to the sewer networks, the project will provide fecal sludge and septage management. The construction of stormwater drainage will improve climate resilience in those towns.
ADB’s support will deploy computerized maintenance and management systems in Haldwani and Tanakpur to ensure efficient asset management and modernize system operation and maintenance of water and sanitation services. The project will support institutional and urban governance reforms to strengthen governance capacity of urban local bodies. Awareness campaigns and behavioral change programs on water conservation and hygiene practices will be expanded.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
