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The government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $112 million loan in order to develop water supply infrastructure in the state of Jharkhand.

About:

• The loan will also strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) in order to improve service delivery in four towns of Jharkhand.
• This project is in line with the priority of Jharkhand Government to improve urban services in state.
• It will ensure continuous, treated piped water supply in Ranchi and other three towns namely Jhumri Telaiya, Hussainabad, and Medininagar. These towns are located in economically and socially backward areas.

ADB’s first project

• This project will be the first urban project of ADB in Jharkhand. It will help in establishing a model for continuous water supply in combination with policy reforms for sustainable operation.
• Under the project, four water treatment plants will be established in four towns with a combined capacity of 275 million liters per day.
• These plants would provide safe drinking water of national drinking water quality standards.
• It will also establish 940 kilometres of water distribution network in order provide continuous water supply across 115,000 households, including below poverty line households, scheduled caste & scheduled tribe members and other vulnerable groups.

How project will ensure sustainability?

In order to ensure sustainability, project will strengthen the capacity of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) by developing an asset management strategy and training on design and implementation of urban projects. It will also introduce innovative technologies in order to minimize water losses in water treatment and distribution. It will also use a supervisory control and data acquisition system for water supply operation and geographic information system-based asset management in the state’s capital city, Ranchi.