The Punjab government is seeking $500 million from the World Bank to provide water to rural areas and address sanitation problems in 16 districts and tehsils to serve a population of 6.65 million in the province.
According to a World Bank document, the project will target districts in Punjab that are the poorest and have the worst outcomes on child stunting, access to and quality of sanitation infrastructure, and bacterial contamination of drinking water at source and at point of use.
Overall, the project is expected to cover about 2,000 villages, main settlements and 8,500 small settlements in Khushab, Mianwali, Sargodha, Chakwal, Bhakkar, Pakpattan, Chiniot, Jhang, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar and Multan districts.
The project will also support Covid-19 mitigation measures in rural Punjab through a series of measures, and the focus will be on actions that households and communities can take to ensure physical distancing and basic hygiene; small-scale infrastructure to directly promote good hygiene practice; and enhance jobs for unskilled and semi-skilled labour.
The project will develop and use a comprehensive IT-based manageÂment information system to track project implementation progress, WSS service delivery performance, the flow of public and donor funds earmarked for WASH and related financial management information, and outcome indicators.
