The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indian government have signed a $96.3 million loan agreement to provide safe drinking water and to improve water supply and sanitation in Himachal Pradesh. The deal was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, additional secretary in the department of economic affairs and Takeo Konishi, Country Director for ADB in India, a Union Finance Ministry statement said. The project is aligned with the objectives of the government of India’s Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide piped water to all rural households by 2024. It will upgrade water supply infrastructure and strengthen institutional capacity to ensure safe, sustainable, and inclusive rural water supply and sanitation services, the statement said. “ADB’s involvement in the project will provide water management best practices, strengthen institutional capacity, and guide tariff reform, the statement quoted Konishi as saying. These interventions will address the government’s aim of providing uninterrupted pressurised water supply to households, inclusive sanitation services, strengthening operation and maintenance for sustainable service delivery, and building capacity of relevant staff, the statement said. More than 90% of the state’s rural population has access to drinking water, but the water supply infrastructure needs revamping, to result in efficient and improved service quality. The ADB project will connect 75,800 households to the service, providing uninterrupted water supply to about 3,70,000 residents across 10 districts. To improve water supply and sanitation services, the project aims to construct 48 groundwater wells, 80 surface water intake facilities, 109 water treatment plants, 117 pumping stations, and 3,000 kilometres of water distribution pipelines. See also: Panel okays Rs 593-mn sanitation proposals for Leh, KargilRs 300 billion sanctioned to clean Ganga and tributaries