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World Bank offers loan for Kerala scheme

The World Bank will extend a loan of $ 60 million towards a rural water supply and sanitation project, to be implemented in four districts of Kerala.

Disclosing this on Tuesday, Irrigation Minister V P Ramakrishna Pillai said that the World Bank would give Rs 3 billion towards the Rs 4-billion project. The rest would be mobilised from the state government and local bodies.

The Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, under the aegis of the Irrigation Department, will be implemented in Kozhikode, Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur districts.

The government has created an autonomous institution, 'Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency', to implement this self-sustained project, 15 per cent capital cost of which would be borne by the beneficiaries.

The minister said the integrated project, aimed at catering 1.5 million people in 80 selected areas, would be completed in six years. There would be a separate tribal sub-project as a special component for the tribals, he added.

While the state government with the World Bank assistance would bear 75 per cent costs, cent per cent operations and maintenance costs would be met by the users themselves, which would be around Rs 30 a month on an average, he said.

Pillai said the users would decide on the technology, community contracting, implementation and maintenance under the guidance of the monitoring committees formed of beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the fortnight-long appraisal of this project proposal by the expert committee from the World Bank concluded on Tuesday. The World Bank representatives were also present at the press conference.

The scheme has been implemented in five villages on an experimental basis since November last year, Kerala Water Authority officials said, adding that the World Bank would have no role other than having an advisory one.

The minister also disclosed that the World Bank had already approved a loan of Rs 400 million for a drinking water scheme in Kasaragod and another project for Kollam was nearing completion with the bank officials discussing it with the state government.

UNI

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