World Bank approves $515 mn projects for Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi, Jun 6: The World Bank has approved two projects worth 515 million dollars to India for water and pollution management in Andhra Pradesh.While 450.60 million dollars have been sanctioned for the state water sector improvement, 64.15 million dollars earmarked for a pilot to supporting development of a national programme for rehabilitation of polluted sites, a World Bank statement said. The 450.60 million dollar loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 30-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period.Of the 64.15 million dollar credit for rehabilitation of polluted sites, 38.94 million dollar comes from the International Development Association(IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm. It carries a 0.75 per cent service fee, a 10-year grace period, and a maturity of 35 years, while the remaining component of 25.21 million dollar has a 30-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period, the statement added. The water project leader and World Bank senior engineer R S Pathak said it is aimed at strengthening Andhra Pradesh's institutional capacity for multi-sectoral planning, development and management of its water resources.The project, he added, will contribute to the rehabilitation and modernisation of Nagarjuna Sagar Scheme (NSS), a large multipurpose project which generates hydro power, supplies water for industries, rural and urban drinking water and irrigation water to about 9 lakh hectare area.The World Bank said the industrial pollution management project is, however, designed as a pilot in view of large scale contamination of areas across India. Quoting an Indian government official, it said there are about 36,000 industries in the country which generate about 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste annually. Large quantities of industrial sludge and effluents laden with heavy metals are dumped in open areas, in rivers, around residential compounds, and on farm land. Such toxic dumps have contaminated soil and groundwater, affecting the health of local communities.Project leader Charles Cormier said it is aimed at supporting development of a national programme for rehabilitation of polluted sites and also to build human and technical capacity in selected state agencies for undertaking environmentally-sound remedial measures at polluted sites.
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