Kathmandu's water supply plan gets going

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Balding the urban landscape through shortsighted fiscal policies

Traditionally most urban areas in the country have grown out of rural settlements. Land use changes and population growth have precipitated urbanization in a lot of rural centres. Urbanization also has cultural connotations, more so today with the far reaching impacts of globalization. But there is another important aspect today: international financial institutions have a big say in shaping the character of our cities today.

ADB officials quit protesting policies

four senior officials quit the Asian Development Bank (adb) in July this year over the dilution of environmental and resettlement policy, triggering a crisis at the bank.

Review finds ADB's policy doesn't hold water

A review of the implementation of the Asian Development Banks (adbs) water policy and water supply and sanitation (wss) projects in India has exposed its failings. In 2005, adb funded WaterAid, international ngo, to conduct an independent review of its own water policy implementation in South AsiaIndia, Bangladesh and Nepal. The India report, Water for All? Implementation of ADB's Water Policy in India A Review, by WaterAid India was published in 2006.

Srinagar officials, residents agree on three more dumpsites

on april 13, 2007, residents of Achen, a locality in Srinagar, and the municipal authorities agreed that three new dumpsites should be set up in three zones of the city, to supplement the existing one in Achen. A committee headed by deputy commissioner Ijaz Ahmed was set up to identify the new sites, each handling 25 per cent of the city's waste and lessening the load on Achen. "The new sites will be decided only after consulting residents of the relevant areas," said Quazi Mohammad Afzal, state minister of urban development and water supply.

Issues in privatisation and commercialisation of water

Bone of contention Nepal's water bill

On January 31, 2007, the Nepal government got temporary reprieve in a long-standing controversy over the Kathmandu water supply bill. Its ministry of physical planning and works signed an agreement with the protesting Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti, a union of employees of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation, the government water supply utility, to break the impasse over the bill.

Fissure in Kerala's ruling coalition over ADB loan

in kerala, the ruling coalition, the Left Democratic Front, is divided over the Asian Development Bank's (adb) loan for urban improvement. An agreement was signed between the government and adb on December 8, 2006, for a sum of Rs 1,061 crore for the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project. Chief minister V S Achuthanandan claims that the deal was struck without his knowledge and lacks cabinet approval.

Hydropower back in World Bank's good books

Big hydropower projects are poised to re-enter the good books of the World Bank (wb) and the Asian Development Bank (adb). In the early 1990s, the wb had stopped funding the Sardar Sarovar Project under pressure from the Narmada Bachao Andolan. That marked the beginning of a phase during which the bank was a reluctant lender to big hydro-projects.

Development doubts

International financial institutions (ifis) avoid investing in troubled states. It just doesn't make good business sense. Then why do ifis such as the Asian Development Bank (adb) and the World Bank feel attracted to India's northeast? Does the vacuum of governance in some of these states suit the ifis or is there another explanation?