World Bank, Asian Development Bank to provide 400 million dollars to Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank would jointly provide 400 million dollars to rain-ravaged Uttarakhand to redevelop basic amenities like housing, agriculture, education and health facilities besides reconstructing damaged roads.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar in Dehradun on Tuesday after the two international financial institutions undertook a preliminary survey of the damage caused by the natural disaster in Uttarakhand in June.

The Asian Development Bank would give 30 million dollars for tourism development, 95 million dollars for highways and connecting roads, ten million dollars solely for hill roads affected in the disaster, 12 million dollars for drinking water and six million dollars for construction of drainage systems, Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma said.

The World Bank would give 30 million dollars for drinking water projects, 50 million dollars for repair of damaged buildings, 20 million dollars for irrigation and 23 million dollar for technical support, he said.

The joint funding from World Bank and Asian Development Bank will be provided for the required programmes through its 'Crisis Window' provision.

The aid will be given in a ratio of 90:10, under which 90 per cent would be paid by the Union government and ten percent by the state government, Sharma said.