ADB approves loan for non-revenue water management programme in Sri Lanka

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement with the Sri Lankan government for the first tranche of a $84m loan to implement a non-revenue water management programme in the country’s capital of Colombo.

The water management programme is estimated to cost $400m, of which ADB will provide $300m and the Sri Lankan government $100m.

The programme aims to improve water supply and management systems in the municipality areas of Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Kolonnawa and Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. It has been designed to reduce water loss in the municipality areas from the present 49% to 20% by 2016.

The aging water supply system in the region currently costs residents around LKR3bn ($2.9m) every year. The proposed upgrades will ensure a steady stream, increasing access to potable drinking water and making energy savings.

Implementation of the non-revenue water management programme will be jointly led by the Water Supply and Drainage Ministry, National Water Supply and Drainage Board, local government and Provincial Councils Ministry and the Colombo Municipal Council.

ADB president Takehiko Nakao and Sri Lanka Treasury Secretary Dr P B Jayasundera signed the loan agreement at the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Manila in the Philippines.

In July 2012, Sri Lanka secured a $64.9m 12-year direct loan from the US Export-Import Bank to finance the design and construction of an integrated water supply system.