Kathmandu, September 27

The board of directors of Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $130 million to improve access to community-managed water supply and sanitation in 20 urban municipalities of Nepal.

“Building on the experience of three previous ADB projects, this project will finance climate-resilient and accessible water supply and sanitation infrastructure and strengthen capacity in the communities and utility operators to deliver services over the long term,” Alexandra Vogl, senior urban development specialist at ADB, has been quoted as saying in a press note.

While Nepal has made strong efforts to improve access to water supply and sanitation, increasing coverage since 2000, the note says that in 2016, however, only 34 per cent of water supply was reported to be safe and 15 per cent met the national water quality standards.

“More efforts are also needed to improve sanitation, as only 34 per cent of urban households have septic tanks and only 15 per cent have sewer

connections. Overall, municipalities lack funds and skilled personnel to provide cost-effective services.”

The new project will support the installation or repair of 1,600 kilometres of water supply pipes and 15 water treatment plants each with an estimated capacity of 600,000 litres a day. This will result in 66,000 households being connected to piped water. About 8,000 toilets will also be constructed, along with 20 public toilets suitable for both genders and the disabled. Among other activities, the project will construct two waste water treatment plants and 30 km of storm water drainage.

The project will also prepare water, sanitation, and hygiene plans for all project municipalities; support local water user associations and committees; train staff; and carry out awareness campaigns on water conservation and hygiene behaviour.

Poor and vulnerable households will be covered through subsidised connections to the piped water supply. Women will benefit in particular from less time spent on collecting and managing water and from opportunities for work, training, project consultations, and participation in the 20 water users’ and sanitation committees that will be set up.

The total cost of the project is $178.5 million, of which the government and beneficiaries will contribute $48.5 million. The targeted completion date for the project is October 2023.