The Calcutta Environment Improvement Project aims to help the Calcutta Municipal Corporation develop a policy and institutional framework to manage sewage and drainage systems, solid waste, slum improvement and canal rehabilitation.
"At present, less than one in five people in the project area is connected to a sewage system while less than half of the population has access to drains," the Manila-based ADB said in a statement.
The bank said the city's industrial wastes flow largely untreated into canals, exposing communities to acids, toxic chemicals, paints, varnish and other hazardous materials.
It added that as a result of the flow of these toxic chemicals into canals, water-borne and other communicable diseases has been on the rise.
"The project will address the waste being discharged by hundreds of industries into open canals and improve the living and health conditions for five million people, including many in the city's outer areas," the bank said.
The project will dredge and de-silt canals totalling 53 kilometres and upgrade or replace culverts, bridges and pumping stations to improve flows.
It will also resettle and compensate 11,000 people living along the project area to a nearby place with better living conditions. The ADB said up to 65,000 slum dwellers will benefit from better water suppply and sanitation facilities.
The project, which is scheduled to be completed in mid-2007, costs 360 million dollars. The ADB said its loan will finance 69 per cent of the total project cost, while the state government will shoulder the balance.
(la/dpa)
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