$71m ADB loan for water management

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday approved a US$71 million worth of loan for improving flood control, irrigation, and water resources management in rural Bangladesh.
With the financial support, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) will implement a project to strengthen the preparedness and resilience to the effects of climate change in the Gopalganj and Madaripur districts.
The ADB will sign a loan deal with the Bangladesh government's Economic Relations Division (ERD) to confirm the loan, said an ERD official.
Under the ADB-financed "Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project", the BWDB is also working to improve agricultural production, improved community infrastructure, and increased rural households' incomes, said ADB Senior Project Management Specialist Pushkar Srivastava on Wednesday.
The project is expected to benefit more than 600,000 people and will introduce climate-resilient flood control, drainage, and irrigation (FCDI) measures and reduce saline intrusion, ADB said in a press release.
"It will adopt nature-based solutions to strengthen FCDI infrastructure and improve drainage in four sub-basins. The project will develop and enhance integrated water management plans, construct training centers for water management organizations, and other community infrastructure," the ADB said.

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