World Bank to give $35 million to Pakistan for Indus River Basin

WASHINGTON: The World Bank has approved an additional financial assistance of $35 million to support improved management, planning and development of water resources in the Indus River Basin in Pakistan.

"Water sector issues are enormous and complex and addressing them will require a strategic engagement over the medium and long term," said Patchamuthu Illangovan, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan.

This $35 million is in addition to the $38 million given earlier towards improvement of water resources management in the Indus River system, the Bank said.

"The Bank has a long history of partnership and collaboration with the Government of Pakistan in the water sector and this additional financing will support water management and distribution, benefit sharing mechanisms, and capacity strengthening for improved water resources management across the country," Illangovan said.

According to Bank, the project aims to strengthen the Indus system's institutional and regulatory framework and bolster the technical capacity of the Ministry of Water and Power, the Indus River System Authority, the Water and Power Development Authority and the Water Section of the Planning Development and Reform Division.

The additional financing from the World Bank will help to enhance the government's capacity to address basin-level management of Indus water resources, including support to climate-change adaptation and mitigation measures, the media statement said.

Pakistan is among the most affected countries by climate change as its water, food and energy security is largely dependent on its glacial resources located in the Himalaya-Karakoram range.