TE24 Bangladesh Desk:
The World Bank on Friday approved a $500 million loan to improve Bangladesh’s preparedness for inland flood disasters in 14 flood-prone districts and benefit more than 1.25 million people.
The Resilience Infrastructure for Adaptation and Vulnerability Reduction (RIVER) project makes Bangladesh vulnerable to rivers and flash floods by building more than 500 multipurpose flood shelters, access roads and climate-resilient community infrastructure. Helps reduce sex drive.
Generally, flood shelters function as primary schools and are equipped with solar systems, water, sanitation and hygiene to meet the needs of women and vulnerable people. The project will also help strengthen the capacity of communities and government agencies to respond to floods and implement behavioral change interventions.
World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Marcy Tembon said, the tragic flood situation in the Sylhet region clearly reminds us of the increased risks to development due to climate change.
“Building on our five-decade-long partnership to improve disaster risk management in coastal regions, this project will help Bangladesh improve disaster preparedness in coastal flood-prone areas. It will also support the country’s transition from disaster response to disaster risk management.”
About 1 million people are affected by floods and landslides every year, but in some years the number can be much higher.
The project will help save lives and resources in highly flood prone districts of Teesta-Brahmaputra-Yamuna, Padma and Surma-Meghna river basins- Nilpamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Bogra, Pabna, Sirajganj. , Rajbari, Faridpur, Gopalganj, Madaripur, and Sunamganj, Habiganj.
Ignacio Urrutia, World Bank team leader for the project, said that inadequate evacuation facilities for people and their livestock in highly flood-prone areas not only leads to loss of life and livelihoods, but also hampers the ability to provide adequate relief.
“This project will contribute to the development of evacuation facilities that benefit the community on a regular basis, while providing WASH, implementing gender-sensitive design and providing adequate space for community members and livestock.”
The project will create a database on the availability and condition of flood shelters, which will be important for disaster preparedness and future investment planning.
The project supports the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, a long-term plan to achieve a safe, climate-resilient and prosperous delta, and the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2025.
