ADB to strengthen Kolkata Municipal Corporation capacity

India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed $100 million loan agreement to strengthen the capacity of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for resilient urban services, an official statement said.

The $100 million loan is the third and final tranche under the $400 million Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Program and is aimed at expanding sewerage and drainage coverage and providing sewage treatment in Kolkata.

It will target expansion of sewerage and drainage services in selected peripheral areas of KMC to at least 3,000 additional households and provide sewage treatment for at least 1,00,000 households, the Ministry of Finance said in the statement.

The agreement was signed by Ministry of Finance Additional Secretary Sameer Kumar Khare for the Indian government and ADB's India Resident Mission Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama for the multilateral lending agency.

Khare said it will supplement the efforts made in previous phases that aim to provide affordable access to water supply, sewerage and drainage services in Kolkata.

Yokoyama said that the current financing will be used to construct 43 km of additional sewer drain pipes, four pumping stations, 13 km of pumping mains and three sewage treatment plants to improve sanitation service and climate resilience.

The overall goal of the programme, approved in 2014, is to restore water production capacity to 1,478 million litres per day and ensure leaks on 700 kilometres of water pipes are repaired by 2023, the statement said.

It aims to install 40,000 water meters in pilot areas, 170 kilometres of sewer-drain pipes and provide new sewerage connections to 27,000 homes, it said.

(With inputs from agencies.)