India: Uttarakhand Integrated and Resilient Urban Development Project

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban flood protection - Urban policy, institutional and capacity development - Urban sewerage - Urban water supply

The proposed Uttarakhand Integrated and Resilient Urban Development Project (UIRUDP) will support improvement of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, and access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all ending open defecation, in support of Uttarakhand Vision 2030.

UIRUDP computerized maintenance and management systems (CMMS) in Dehradun and Nainital, and (iv) strengthen institutional capacity and knowledge of project implementation units and project management units in Dehradun and Nainital.

The state of Uttarakhand, located in the northern part of India, is one of the fast growing states supported by manufacturing industries and tourism. As hill agriculture became unstable and better opportunities for jobs and education became increasingly concentrated in urban centers, urban migration from hill villages has intensified rapid urbanization. Unplanned urbanization and the challenges to mobilize human and financial resources led to significant gaps in the provision of basic infrastructure and services to growing urban areas. The lack of clean water supply and sanitation (WSS) systems and services in particular poses disproportionate burden on the poor, which is estimated at around 15% of urban population.

The Government of Uttarakhand (GOU) articulated its WSS goals and targets in its vision document, Uttarakhand Vision 2030, which are: (i) universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, and (ii) access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation.3 Under the WSS goals, the 2030 targets specific to urban WSS in the state are (i) all urban households with access of piped water, compared to 30% of urban households in 2017; and (ii) 100% of urban local bodies (ULBs) with partial sewerage, compared to 28.6% of ULBs in 2017 .

Among many urban areas in Uttarakhand that require investment, GOU, with ADB's support, prioritized the investment based on the urgency, scale of impacts, safeguards sensitivity, project readiness, and ULB ownership. Two project locations were selected Dehradun and Nainital. Dehradun, the winter capital of Uttarakhand, is the most populous city in Uttarakhand experiencing unprecedent speed of urban sprawl. Compared to the 2011 census data of 569,578 living in 61 wards with a total area of 64.6 square kilometer (sq km), Dehradun experienced fast growing peri-urban areas with huge influx of urban migrants and carried out re-boundary mission in 2018. As a result, Dehradun has expanded to 300% in area (196.48 sq km) and increased by 141% in population (803,983 in 2018) living in 100 wards. The urban master plan of Dehradun-2025 drafted in 2015 has not been updated to address its urban expansion and the necessary provision of urban infrastructure and services. The WSS investment gap is significant, particularly on sanitation system and services in new Dehradun area. Untreated wastewater and fecal sludge are directly disposed to Rispana, Bindal, and Suswa rivers causing severe environmental and health risks.

Nainital, the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, is set in a valley of steep mountains around Nainital Lake. Estimated population of Nainital in 2020 is about 60,000. Compared to the 2011 census data of 41,377, the urban population is increased by 50%. As Nainital is a highly popular hill station, the average number of daily visitors to Nainital is around 72,650 with 90% staying overnight. Severe water stress resulted from the constantly increasing number of urban residents and the high-reaching floating population, which is 120% higher than the residents. Moreover, the observed depletion of ground water that has been a major drinking water source, and deterioration of surface water quality, led to the restriction of the duration of water withdrawal from tube wells by the water authority in Nainital. The service hours of tap water have been reduced despite the sufficient water supply infrastructure developed by ADB-financed project. The aging sewerage networks with leaks and insufficient sewerage treatment capacity has worsen water pollution, making it difficult to tap on surface water as an alternative drinking water source. Upgrading of the aging sewer networks built around 1940 and the necessary expansion of sewerage treatment capacity in Nainital are urgent tasks for the system sustainability of both WSS.

ADB's collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and National Institute of Urban Affairs led to the improvement of the project design. Fecal sludge and septage management is added and integrated to the centralized sewerage system through installation of co-treatment unit at the proposed STP in Dehradun. To expand the benefits of using smart technologies like SCADA and GIS, ADB introduced CMMS solutions, which will transform labor- and resource-intensive, and reactive O&M and asset management practices in WSS into modernized, systemized, proactive, and efficient ones. CMMSs will reduce O&M costs through prediction, planning, and scheduling preventive maintenance; increase equipment life and reliability; boost employee productivity; and improve customer satisfaction through preventing problems and quickly redressing their complaints. Responding to the GOU's concern on water scarcity and water pollution and its request, ADB introduced EBA measures (also called nature-based solutions) that can bring multiple benefits such as drought mitigation, heat stress reduction, flood control, water quality improvement, carbon sink, aesthetic quality, recreational and restorative capacity, local air quality improvement, and health benefits. The TA attached to the proposed project will support the conceptual design and feasibility assessment of these EBAs, which can contribute to the preparation of a future project in Uttarakhand.

Universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water

Access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all ending open defecation.

Resilient water supply system and service in Dehradun improved

Integrated and resilient sanitation systems and drainage established in Dehradun and Nainital

Computerized maintenance management systems for water and sanitation developed and implemented in Dehradun and Nainital

Institutional capacity and knowledge strengthened