Guwahati, Jun 29 : The draft report of the about US142-million-dollar North Eastern Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management (NEIFRERM) Project, Assam has provided the vision and first integrated water resources management development initiative to solve Assam’s flood and erosion problems in four reaches. The reaches proposed to be protected by the project are –Dibrugarh town and its adjoining Nagaghuli and Mohanaghat, Matmara and its adjoining areas in Lakhimpur district, Bonkuwal-Moriahola-Diffalupathar in the upstream of Kaziranga National Park and Palasbari-Gumi and adjoining areas of Kamrup district.
It has also provided for a carefully planned paradigm shift from living with floods to managing floods in line with national and state policies and regulations. This plan is built on a better understanding of the risk environment and it is integrated with disaster preparedness, said the executive summary of the project report.Briefing mediapersons on the report, Mr Knut Oberhagemann, leader of the NEIFRERM Project Preparation Technical Assistance Team, said here this morning that the project was conceived in a manner that could facilitate the sustainable development of the floodplains of Assam in support of the overreaching goal of reducing poverty.
This will be achieved by substantially lowering the risk associated with flooding and riverbank erosion. This will encourage more productive land-use in selected areas of the Brahmaputra floodplains.
Providing a more stable and predictable physical environment will reduce direct financial pressure on poor households and support more productive land-use and overall economic development.
The risk reduction will be achieved through a combination of structural and non-structural measures, directly relevant to improving the local risk environment, planned in a participatory manner and implemented and maintained with direct community involvement.
The approach is in line with the demand of the mostly poor floodplain dwellers for permanent solutions. Poor people will have the option of remaining in a less risky environment instead of migrating to other areas.
Of the project cost of around US142 million dollar, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance will be around 120 million dollar, that is around 85 per cent of the project cost, said the NEIFRERM Technical Assistance Team Leader.
Member of the ADB Mission Mr Kenichi Yokoyama said that the report would be presented separately to the Governments of India and Assam and the ADB Board in July next. If they accept the concept of the report, the fact-finding process would start.
The process will make the document a property of these three parties. The appraisal process of the project is expected to be complete by January next, subject to the concurrence of the three parties.
Following this, the negotiation will start and approval to the project is expected to be by the middle of the next year. But the ADB wants strong specific actions from the State Government as to how the infrastructures are being maintained and also on the sustainability, quality of services and participation, etc.
Only after getting the right assurances from the State Government on the above points, the project will be approved by the ADB, he said.
He also apprised the mediapersons that there was a scope to ‘rationalise’ the loan amount – that is either to increase or to reduce its cost, depending on the steps of the State to maintain quality, sustainability, etc., of the infrastructure.
It needs mention here that the process to prepare the report started in May last year with a time-frame of 13 months. Of the total project cost, 90 per cent will be extended by the Union Government as grant, while ten per cent of it will be the loan component of notional nature, as per the present arrangement between the governments at the Centre and in the State.
It has also provided for a carefully planned paradigm shift from living with floods to managing floods in line with national and state policies and regulations. This plan is built on a better understanding of the risk environment and it is integrated with disaster preparedness, said the executive summary of the project report.Briefing mediapersons on the report, Mr Knut Oberhagemann, leader of the NEIFRERM Project Preparation Technical Assistance Team, said here this morning that the project was conceived in a manner that could facilitate the sustainable development of the floodplains of Assam in support of the overreaching goal of reducing poverty.
This will be achieved by substantially lowering the risk associated with flooding and riverbank erosion. This will encourage more productive land-use in selected areas of the Brahmaputra floodplains.
Providing a more stable and predictable physical environment will reduce direct financial pressure on poor households and support more productive land-use and overall economic development.
The risk reduction will be achieved through a combination of structural and non-structural measures, directly relevant to improving the local risk environment, planned in a participatory manner and implemented and maintained with direct community involvement.
The approach is in line with the demand of the mostly poor floodplain dwellers for permanent solutions. Poor people will have the option of remaining in a less risky environment instead of migrating to other areas.
Of the project cost of around US142 million dollar, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance will be around 120 million dollar, that is around 85 per cent of the project cost, said the NEIFRERM Technical Assistance Team Leader.
Member of the ADB Mission Mr Kenichi Yokoyama said that the report would be presented separately to the Governments of India and Assam and the ADB Board in July next. If they accept the concept of the report, the fact-finding process would start.
The process will make the document a property of these three parties. The appraisal process of the project is expected to be complete by January next, subject to the concurrence of the three parties.
Following this, the negotiation will start and approval to the project is expected to be by the middle of the next year. But the ADB wants strong specific actions from the State Government as to how the infrastructures are being maintained and also on the sustainability, quality of services and participation, etc.
Only after getting the right assurances from the State Government on the above points, the project will be approved by the ADB, he said.
He also apprised the mediapersons that there was a scope to ‘rationalise’ the loan amount – that is either to increase or to reduce its cost, depending on the steps of the State to maintain quality, sustainability, etc., of the infrastructure.
It needs mention here that the process to prepare the report started in May last year with a time-frame of 13 months. Of the total project cost, 90 per cent will be extended by the Union Government as grant, while ten per cent of it will be the loan component of notional nature, as per the present arrangement between the governments at the Centre and in the State.
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