India to get $251 mn loan from ADB flood protection and management in Chennai-Kosasthalaiyar basin

New Delhi, Oct 28 (FN Agency) India will get a $251 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for climate-resilient, integrated urban flood protection and management in the Chennai-Kosasthalaiyar basin to strengthen the resilience of Chennai city to floods. An agreement to this effect was signed here on Thursday. The agreement was signed between Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission. The project will establish climate-resilient urban flood protection infrastructure. It will construct 588 kilometers (kms) of new stormwater drains, rehabilitate or replace 175 kms of stormwater drains, improve 11 km stretches in the Ambattur, Ariyallur, Kadappakkam, and Korattur channels to enhance water-carrying capacity, and upgrade a stormwater pumping station and construct a new one.

It will also construct 23,000 catch pits in roadside drains to recharge the groundwater aquifer and rehabilitate four disaster relief camps, an official statement said. Flood preparedness will be strengthened by developing guidelines to integrate flood hazard zoning into spatial and land use planning, implementing a flood citizen observatory for real-time information in flood areas, and creating a manual for green infrastructure design, including rainwater harvesting. The project also aims to enhance stakeholders’ involvement, including proactive participation of women, in flood preparedness by raising community knowledge and awareness of flood risks and impacts and its relationship with solid waste management, sewerage, and protection of water bodies. The project interventions will help reduce the vulnerability of Chennai–Kosasthalaiyar basin residents to frequent floods, which have in recent years destroyed property and livelihoods, Mr Mishra said. Building disaster-resilient infrastructure would help communities cope with intensifying rainfall, a higher sea level rise, and a storm surge caused by cyclones and protect lives, economy and the environment, he said.. “The project will build flood protection infrastructure as well as strengthen capacity of the Greater Chennai Corporation and communities for better preparedness planning to transform Chennai into a more livable city,” Mr Konishi said.