ADB to fund state’s drinking water project

ADB to fund state’s drinking water project

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has come forward to finance the state government’s ambitious project to provide drinking water to all urban habitats in the state, from surface water sources like rivers, streams and lakes among others.

Informing this to reporters, Urban Development and Law and Parliamentary Minister Suresh Kumar, on Wednesday said that ADB had agreed to plan and finance the project whose cost is estimated to be around Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore.

The project - to be called ‘Kannada Ganga’ - will be implemented in all the 219 urban habitats that include cities and towns. A preliminary meeting in this regard will be held on May 5.

To a question, the Minister said that the government would never privatise drinking water supply in urban areas.

“We will not treat drinking water as a commodity. We are only involving private players in maintaining drinking water supply,” he clarified.

The government had roped in JUSCO, a private company, to maintain water supply in Mysore. Suresh Kumar said that the government had released Rs 17 crore each to these corporations to take up works under the CM’s package. The CM, immediately after assuming office, had announced that every corporation would be given Rs 100 crore as special fund for infrastructure development.

In order to ensure quality in works under the package, the meeting decided to conduct third-party inspection of all the works.