World Bank funds India sanitation programme

The World Bank has approved a US$ 500 million credit for India’s Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWSS) project for low-income states.

The credit will fund improvements to the piped water supply and sanitation services through decentralised delivery systems in the Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Currently, less than a third of India’s rural households have access to tap water and domestic toilets.

The project will be implemented over a six-year period and will support the design and implementation of a dedicated RWSS program for low-income states under the ongoing National Rural Drinking Water Programme in the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (MoDWS).

Other key components of the project include investments for improving water supply and sanitation coverage, including construction of new infrastructure and rehabilitation of existing schemes.

Single Village Schemes (SVSs) using local groundwater sources will serve most habitation.

Multi Village Schemes (MVSs), which mainly rely on surface water sources, will be taken up for those habitations where the local source is either not sustainable or not of acceptable quality.