World Bank approves Rs 3,600 cr for Bengaluru Water Security project

Bengaluru: The World Bank has sanctioned $426 million (Rs 3,600 cr) for a new initiative to enhance water security for over four million residents in Bengaluru, officials said.

Karnataka Water Security and Resilience Programme will also help Bengaluru mitigate flooding by reviving the city’s 183 lakes, which act as natural sponges during heavy rainfall, said a press release.

“This will also help communities through early warning systems and improved responses to extreme weather by strengthening the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre,” said Kristoffer Welsien and Anup Karanth, the task team leaders for the programme.

Auguste Tano Kouame, the World Bank’s Country Director for India, said the programme will also help increase the revenues of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

“It will mobilise $5 million in private capital. This will improve efficiency, replace aging water pipes, and tap the private sector to create innovative tools like smart water meters,” Kouame was quoted as saying in the release.

The programme will also ensure sewerage connections to over 1,00,000 households and facilitate the construction of nine Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to prevent sewage from entering lakes and drains.

According to the release, treated wastewater will be reused for industrial purposes and for recharging groundwater in the Greater Bengaluru area.

The $426 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a maturity period of 20 years, with a grace period of five years, it added.