The Government of India and the World Bank have signed a $120 million agreement to improve access to water supply in peri-urban areas in Uttarakhand.
- This water supply program in Uttarakhand will help to increase the water supply coverage in the state as well as ensure sustainable water supply service delivery in peri-urban areas.
Key Highlights of the agreement
- The agreement for the project was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Arvind Singh Hyanki, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, on behalf of the Government of Uttarakhand; and Hisham Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank, India on behalf of the World Bank.
- The $120 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 5-year grace period, and a maturity of 17 years.
- It would help in developing and implementing a service oriented, efficient water supply policy so as to strengthen the current monitoring and evaluation systems and to provide incentives for adopting these water supply plans.
- Peri-urban areas are those areas which are classified as rural but are effectively urban in nature in terms of the density of population, structure of the economy etc.
- Due to the growth and urbanization, there has been a significant rise in these peri-urban areas.
- Uttarakhand’s urban population has grown by nearly 42% from 2001 to 2011 which is substantially higher than the national average of 32%. The state has made significant efforts in implementing innovative approaches in water supply and sanitation services but still there is a need to pay focus on the water supply need of the peri-urban areas.
- Approximately 70,000 people living in the peri-urban areas of Uttarakhand are expected to get benefits from this water supply program.
- Through this water supply program, women in these peri-urban areas will have easy access to water supply services.
- About 45 percent of households in peri-urban areas in Uttarakhand are connected with piped water but receive only one to two hours of supply each day.
- The program will focus on increasing coverage, quality and reliability of water supply services in all peri-urban areas of the state.
- Services would be provided through piped network and metered service connections with a focus on improving the operation and management of it.
- Some of the efforts to be made under this program will include ensuring a minimum 16-hour water supply which meets the water quality standards set by the Government of India. This water will be supplied at a minimum pressure of 12m, for no less than 300 days in a year.
- Other efforts include100 percent customer metering and volumetric tariffs and sustainable water supply systems which recover O&M costs through user charges with transparent subsidies, if any.
- This program is now a priority for the state as it moves towards achieving its goal of universal water supply coverage in urban areas by 2030 and in rural areas by 2022.
