The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 200-million-U.S. dollar loan to strengthen flood and riverbank erosion risk management along the 650-km-long main stem of the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India.
The Manila-based bank project builds on the success and lessons from the ADB-financed Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program (2010-2020) and similar investments in Bangladesh. The project will continue to tackle recurrent flooding and continual riverbank erosion of the Brahmaputra River.
About 1 million people will benefit from the project, which is expected to increase crop production by over 50,000 hectares, according to the bank.
“The project will apply a holistic, integrated, and risk-informed approach to scale up investment in flood and riverbank erosion risk management and its long-term planning while intensifying support for climate and disaster resilience and food security,” the ADB said.
By stabilizing 60 kilometers of banks, installing 32 kilometers of pro-siltation measures, and building 4 kilometers of climate-resilient flood embankments in five high-priority districts, the project will secure living spaces, support livelihoods, create employment opportunities, and ultimately enhance the navigability of the river.
The ADB added that the project will advance the institutional capacity in flood forecasting and warning systems, modern surveys, erosion and embankment breach modeling, asset management, flood risk mapping, land use planning, pilot nature-based solutions, and the graduation approach.
