Why in news? The World Bank has approved a $363 million loan to Karnataka to provide clean and safe drinking water to two million rural households through a piped water connection.

Highlights:

• Under the programme, around 500 rural water reservoirs in seven water-stressed districts of Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Bidar, Chickballapur, Kalaburagi, Kolar, and Tumakuru will be revived to help increase water storage capacity and groundwater recharge.
• The assistance will support Karnataka’s ambition to provide functioning tap water connections to every rural household in the State.
• Programme will enhance the capacity of rural local governments to manage water supply services efficiently which will directly benefit women and have better health and have more time to pursue opportunities for education and formal jobs.
• Almost 77% of Karnataka is arid or semi-arid and is vulnerable to climate-change-related variable rainfall causing droughts and floods, leading to groundwater depletion, and deteriorating water quality.

Additional Financing

• Besides the World Bank funding, the financing for the project will come from the State government through Jaladhare, which will be funded through the State Budget, gram panchayat’s own sources, and collection of water rate from the households.
• The Jaladhare rural water supply programme was announced in 2018, to provide safe and sustainable drinking water at the rate of 55 litre per capita per day in rural areas by treating water drawn from rivers or reservoirs. the schemes is implemented by the state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department.