ADB to lend $75 million for 24-hour water supply in four Karnataka towns

India on Tuesday signed a $75-million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide round-the-clock water supply to Karnataka's four coastal towns of Kundapura, Mangalore Puttur and Udupi, and to improve sanitation infrastructure in Mangalore town.

The project finances would be used to augment water treatment production capacity by about 16 millions liters per day, lay about 90 kilometers of new water transmission lines and feeder mains, construct 29 overhead tanks and four ground-level service reservoirs, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

It added that the project would also include establishing town-level supervisory control and data acquisition system to strengthen centralised supervision and control of water flow and water pressure.

The tranche-two loan is part of the Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Programme, approved by the ADB Board in 2014, which aims to improve urban water resource management in selected river basins in Karnataka, modernisation and expansion of urban water supply and sanitation infrastructure, and improving water use efficiency, the statement said.

The $75-million tranche-one loan is being used to strengthen urban water supply and sanitation services in three other towns of the state -- Byadagi, Davangere and Harihar.

"Apart from providing continuous piped water supply and improved sanitation services to nearly one million people, the programme is helping the urban local bodies to become efficient and responsive urban water utility service provider," said Sabyasachi Mitra, Deputy Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission.