Under the project, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board will take up the task of strengthening storm water drains and constructing sewage treatment plants. | Photo Credit: file photo
The World Bank, which is lending $426 million (R3,500 crore) to Bengaluru for its water resilience project, has set nine disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs), including service standardization, digital governance, climate finance, and resource integration. , for loans.
Loans are provided under the World Bank’s Programme-for-Results Financing (PforR), where the provision of loans is linked to results. The water strengthening project now approved by the city will be implemented over a period of five years (2026-31) and the money will be released in three to five installments and each installment will be linked to these DLIs, sources said.
Under the project, which costs around Rs 5,000 crore, part of the World Bank loan is Rs 3,500 crore and the rest is funded by the State government, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to take work to strengthen storm water drains (SWDs) and construct sewage treatment plants (STPs).
Recently, community institutions and World Bank representatives held a consultation meeting with stakeholders, where Bank representatives informed them about the project and explained the DLIs, sources said.
“The DLIs that have been put in place have good intentions, but they must have specific goals. For example, BWSSB constructs new STPs and sewer lines using these funds and BBMP constructs SWDs. Ideally, the DLI should be the water level in the lakes that have been restored through these STPs,” said a lake conservation activist, who is part of the meeting.
The World Bank insisted on focusing on the recycling of clean water in the city as part of the circular economy, the installation of sensors in SWDs to create an improved flood warning system in the city, and the efficiency and maintenance of operations. The civic body will also install sluice gates in the lakes, sources said.
The international financial organization has also emphasized on financing the climate in the city, the civil society has identified the Climate Action Plan and that civil society should increase their own resources. While the BBMP is hinting at its property tax reforms, the BWSSB has decided to increase the water tax. The BWSSB has recently written to all the city’s MPs seeking suggestions on the tax increase which is expected to be implemented in 2025.
One of the activities approved by the World Bank was the implementation of disaster management in the city. A state-of-the-art control room to manage the city’s climate risk will come up at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Center at a cost of ₹350 crore, sources said.
A senior city official said that most of the DLIs mentioned by the World Bank have been implemented in the city in one way or another. “Soon we will submit all the same documents,” said the official. Meanwhile, all DLIs will be followed during the implementation of the projects taken under the World Bank loan, said the official.
Published – January 03, 2025 07:36 am IST