GOI, Govt of Uttrakhand, WB sign $ 120 million loan agreement

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New Delhi : The Government of India (GOI), Government of Uttarakhand and World Bank Board on January 22, 2018, signed in New Delhi a $120 million Loan Agreement which will help increase access to improved water supply services in peri-urban areas in the State of Uttarakhand.

The agreement for the project was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the GOI, 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, according to a PIB release.

The Uttarakhand Water Supply Programme for Peri-Urban Areas will help the State increase water supply coverage as well as ensure sustainable water supply service delivery in peri-urban areas. It will develop and implement a service-oriented and efficient water supply policy for peri-urban areas, strengthen the current monitoring and evaluation systems, and provide dedicated incentives for preparation and adoption of water supply ‘master-plans’ in peri-urban areas.

Growth and urbanization has led to the rise of significant “peri-urban” areas (mostly in the plains) that, while classified as rural, are effectively urban in nature (in terms of density of population, the structure of the economy, and aspirations of the people).

Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, GOI, said that over 7,00,000 people residing in peri-urban areas of the state are expected to benefit from the programme. He said that with increasing urbanization, the demarcation between rural and urban is slowly diminishing. The rise of peri urban areas in Uttarakhand presents many challenges to development.