The World Bank will help the Indian government fund the Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project with a loan of $250 million (USD).
The Jhelum River recently breached its banks at several places. Over a million families were affected, with about 300 fatalities.
More than 648,000 hectares of agricultural and horticultural land were flooded, with devastating losses of crops and livestick.
“The project will focus on restoring critical infrastructure disrupted by the floods using international best practice. The infrastructure will be designed to improve resilience to future flooding and landslide as well as seismic risk,” said Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director, India
It will also strengthen the capacity of the state government to respond to and better manage natural disasters in future, the World Bank said.
“This region is highly vulnerable to natural disasters that can push millions into poverty. In addition to reconstruction, which includes reconstruction of roads, bridges and public infrastructure, the project will also help the region be better prepared for future,” said Ruhl.
He stressed that the challenge is to “build smart” so that fragile local ecosystems are not damaged in the process.
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