Description

The objective of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project for low income states for India is to improve piped water supply and sanitation services for selected rural communities in the target states through decentralized delivery systems and to increase the capacity of the participating states to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency. The project consists of the following components: 1) capacity building and sector development; 2) infrastructure development; 3) project management support; and 4) contingency emergency response. The first component supports the building of institutional capacity for implementing, managing and sustaining project activities. The infrastructure development component supports investments for improving water supply and sanitation coverage, including construction of new infrastructure and rehabilitation and augmentation of existing schemes. The third component includes project management support to the various entities at the national, state, district, and village levels for implementing the project, including staffing, consultancy and equipment costs, and internal and external financial audits. The final component deals with the utilization of resources from unallocated expenditure and allows the Government to request the Bank to re-categorize and reallocate financing from other project components to partially cover emergency response and recovery costs in the event of an emergency or crisis.