Contacts:
In Delhi: Geetanjali Chopra (91 11) 2461-7241
In Washington: Benjamin Crow (202) 473-5105
Email: bcrow@worldbank.org
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2005— India received today a US$465 million credit from the World Bank for reconstruction and recovery efforts in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, areas that were particularly hard hit by the Asian tsunami of December 2004. This is part of total Bank support of US$528.5 million for tsunami recovery operations in India.
The Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project is expected to help repair or reconstruct about 140,000 damaged houses in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and will assist with the reconstruction of public buildings, revival of livelihoods in fisheries and agriculture, as well as with capacity building in housing reconstruction and coastal management. More importantly, the project takes into account the government’s commitment not to rebuild vulnerabilities. The tsunami of December 26 2004, resulting from an earthquake which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, caused severe damage to coastal areas of several countries including India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives. In India, it caused extensive damage in the offshore Union Territory (UT) of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and along a 2,260 km stretch of the mainland coastline in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and UT of Pondicherry. An estimated 2.7 million people were affected by the disaster. Most were engaged in fisheries (80 percent), while the remainder worked in agriculture (15 percent), and small and micro- enterprises (5 percent). The disaster has most adversely affected the livelihoods of those who were already poor and accentuated the vulnerability of coastal communities. “No amount of money or assistance can make up for the devastation caused by the tsunami in terms of lost lives and the social and economic impact particularly to the poor,” says Michael Carter, the World Bank’s Country Director for India. “The Bank is working closely with the Government of India and other development partners to put in place mechanisms, such as this project to look forward at all aspects of development to ensure that vulnerabilities are not rebuilt.” The project has five components: · Housing: This component will finance the provision of transit shelter as needed and the upgrading of services in temporary shelter sites; the repair and reconstruction of existing houses, construction of new houses and the necessary related services and community infrastructure such as access roads, internal roads, water supply, latrines, storm drains, electrification, and limited community infrastructure facilities; and the resettlement of the families affected. · Restoration of Livelihoods: This component will finance activities to help rebuild the livelihoods of affected families through restoration of damaged fisheries infrastructure, restoration of damaged agricultural lands and horticultural lands, and repair of damaged infrastructure. · Public and Public Works: This component will help finance small public works such as repair, reconstruction and upgrading of damaged hospitals, public health centers and sub-centers, educational institutions, cyclone shelters, and other public buildings. This component also provides support to the restoration of damaged river and drain banks, and replanting of mangrove and shelter belts in Tamil Nadu. · Technical Assistance and Training: This component will finance technical assistance and capacity building for housing reconstruction including preparation of detailed project reports, services in connection with land management, preparation of resettlement layouts and related infrastructure plans. · Implementation Support: This component will finance project management and incremental operating costs associated with project implementation, including financial audits, quality assurance and technical audits, project monitoring and evaluation, and continuous social and environmental impact assessments. “While several components of the proposed project benefit the poor directly, the underlying premise of the government’s reconstruction program is that it should be used as an opportunity for development,” says Shyamal Sarkar, a Senior Sanitary Engineer with the World Bank. “The Bank will pursue close collaboration by all agencies and others involved in the reconstruction effort throughout implementation to maximize the benefit to the affected people and also to address the vulnerabilities of coastal communities in general.” The total project cost is estimated at US$682.8 million, including contingencies, of which IDA funding of US$465.0 million, or about 68 percent of total, is proposed. The standard IDA terms, including a service fee of 0.75 percent and a maturity of 35 years apply. The remaining amount will be provided by the Governments of India, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. In addition to this project, the World Bank will contribute a further $63.5 million to the financing of tsunami disaster recovery activities. Existing IDA credits will help finance essential reconstruction activities in Andhra Pradesh (US$40 million) and needs in rural water supply in Kerala (US$10 million). The needs in the roads sector in Tamil Nadu (US$11 million) will be partially covered under an existing IBRD loan. A trust fund of $2.5 million will support certain activities which are part of, and consistent with, the implementation of the tsunami reconstruction program. The Government of India is directly funding the recovery effort in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. For more information on the World Bank’s activities in India, visit: http://www.worldbank.org.in/ For more information on this project visit: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=104231&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P094513 |
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