MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved a $400 million concessional loan to support the reconstruction of houses and community infrastructure in Sindh damaged by the devastating floods in 2022, a press release from the bank said.
Triggered by torrential monsoon rains, the 2022 floods submerged one-third of Pakistan. The deluge affected over 33m people and killed 1,700 or more. Nearly 8m people were displaced, with many still living in tents and makeshift homes. According to the press release, the concessional loan will allow the Sindh Emergency Housing Reconstruction Project to rehabilitate flood-damaged houses and community infrastructure, and support livelihood recovery, with a focus on strengthening community resilience against climate change-induced natural hazards.
The press release said the project would support conditional cash grants for the reconstruction of 250,000 houses with multi-hazard resilient and environment-responsive designs. “It will also support community-driven construction of infrastructure such as drinking water facilities, sanitation facilities, covered drainage, and renewable energy solutions for 100,000 households in around 1,000 flood-damaged villages in Sindh.”
The project will also support conditional cash grants for livestock, agriculture, small enterprises and e-commerce, it said. The bank said the project was a “key part of ADB’s multifaceted response” to the country’s flood crisis and formed part of the bank’s commitment to provide $1.5 billion in total assistance from 2023 to 2025 to accelerate Pakistan’s flood recovery.
“This project will help rebuild homes and communities, and restore livelihood and basic services in Sindh, the province most affected by the devastating 2022 floods,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. — Agencies
