ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank has approved a financing of $5 million for preparation of design and planning of the Naulong Integrated Water Resources Development project in Jhal Magsi, Balochistan.

The financing will ensure high-quality design, stakeholder engagement and safeguards and procurement readiness and support of the ensuing project. It builds on the project planning documents, including the feasibility study and associated studies commissioned by the Wapda.

The readiness financing will validate the project design and update social and environmental safeguards and other due diligence assessments. The financing has already been included in the ADB’s indicative country operations business plan for Pakistan covering the period between 2021 and 2023.

The project will support investment in water resources infrastructure, water management and skills development through an inclusive and gender sensitive social mobilisation processes and enhance climate and disaster resilience and improve agriculture productivity and livelihood opportunities.

The project is estimated to cost $300m with ADB’s loan financing of $100m. The financing will facilitate timely and cost-effective achievement of the project’s outcome.

The pro forma-I for the project readiness financing has also been approved by the Planning Commission. Pakistan has committed to mitigate climate vulnerability and reduce its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent till 2030.

About 70pc of farmers in Balochistan do not have access to regular source of water. Variability in water availability in Balochistan is far higher than the national average, and per capita water storage is only 20pc of the national average that itself is already grossly inadequate in comparison to other countries in the region.

Extended droughts and destructive flash floods are common, and are likely to worsen with future climate change projections.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2022