Asian Development Bank (ADB) approves USD 182 million loan for Assam flood management

Key facts

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved USD 182 million in additional financing to strengthen Assam's resilience to chronic flooding and riverbank erosion along the Brahmaputra.
• The funding supplements the ongoing USD 200 million Climate Resilient Brahmaputra Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Project approved in October 2023.
• The project will extend integrated risk management measures into four additional high-priority reaches of the Brahmaputra river.
• The initiative is expected to directly benefit approximately 600,000 rural residents, including poor households, women, and disadvantaged groups.
• Under the expanded scope, ADB will support the construction of 63.5 kilometres of riverbank protection and the installation of pro-siltation measures to reclaim eroded land.
• Nature-based solutions, including reed propagation and wetland restoration, will be implemented to reduce flooding and improve ecological resilience.
• The financing will enhance knowledge-based river management through flood risk maps, asset condition surveys, erosion prediction models, and early warning systems.
• The project includes community disaster preparedness programmes and the upgrading of disaster-resilient flood embankments.