KATHMANDU: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 150-million-U.S.-dollar loan to help improve the delivery of urban services and infrastructure in eight municipalities in the southern parts of Nepal. Issuing a statement on Monday, ADB Nepal office informed that the project will help those municipalities become more sustainable, inclusive and resilient places to live in for more than 1.5 million people. “Improving urban infrastructure and service delivery in major urban areas in Nepal, including in the Terai region, is a must given their importance to the country’s economy and development,” Vivian Castro-Wooldridge, an ADB Urban Development Specialist has been quoted in the statement.
Urbanization in Nepal has been growing at a rapid pace at about 6 percent since the 1970s. However, this has not contributed significantly to inclusive economic growth due to inadequate urban planning, weak institutions, neglected operations and maintenance of existing urban infrastructures, as well as limited technical capacity. To address this issue, it is estimated that the government would need to double its spending on urban infrastructure to meet the backlog of future demand up to 2030 worth 24.5 billion dollars. According to ADB, the project will also support a project development facility for the preparation of a pipeline of urban infrastructure projects, particularly in solid waste management, drainage, roads, water supply, and sanitation, with high readiness to reduce future startup delays.
