The Hindu Business Line : ADB clears $200-m package for tsunami-hit States

ASIAN Development Bank today (ADB) approved a $200-million loan and grant assistance package to help India restore livelihoods and rehabilitate and reconstruct damaged infrastructure in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the wake of the devastating tsunami of December 2004.

The assistance package comprises a $100-million grant drawing on grants available from ADB's Asian Tsunami Fund established in February 2005, and a $100-million loan from ADB's ordinary capital resources.

Of the amount, $143.75 million has been allocated to Tamil Nadu and $56.25 million to Kerala.

According to the ADB-UNDP-World Bank joint needs assessment, the reconstruction financing needs caused by the tsunami amounted to at least $868 million in Tamil Nadu and $157 million in Kerala.

The livelihoods of almost half a million families in these two States have also been affected.

A statement issued in Manila from the bank's headquarters said that the three donors and the Government agreed to allocate livelihood restoration, transportation, and rural and municipal infrastructure in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to ADB; housing, fisheries, and agriculture sectors to the World Bank; and disaster risk management to the UN, according to respective resources and expertise.

"The project will focus on the highest priority areas, identified through consultations with the State Governments, civil society, and other stakeholders," said Mr Arjun Goswami, an ADB Principal Governance Specialist.

The project will have four components:

· Restoration of livelihoods through micro-enterprise training, including replacement of productive assets, upgrading of skills, and reconstruction of community-based infrastructure

· Rehabilitation of seriously damaged state and major district roads and bridges, including drainage structures, and rehabilitation and reconstruction of ports and harbours

· Restoration and upgrading of damaged water supply systems and sanitary complex and solid waste management facilities, and other rural and municipal infrastructure such as village roads, drainage canals, public buildings, and electricity line network and distribution transformers

· Capacity building and implementation assistance for consulting services, support for specialised studies such as aquifers and hydrology, and project oversight, as well as incremental administration cost.

The Government of India and the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala will contribute $18.6 million towards the project's total cost of $218.6 million.

Interest will be determined in accordance with ADB's LIBOR-based lending facility.

The project's executing agency in Tamil Nadu is the Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation Department, and in Kerala, the Department of Disaster Management.

The project is due for completion in April 2008.

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