The Project objectives are to increase water availability, improve the safety of water and sewerage services in Karachi, and increase KWSB’s financial and operational performance.
The proposed project will deepen the reforms undertaken under the KWSSIP Phase-1 project and significantly scale-up the infrastructure investments to improve water supply and sewerage services in Karachi. The investments in the rehabilitation of existing and the construction of new infrastructure will enhance the development impacts by reaching more beneficiaries, at the same time, building support for continued mainstreaming of the operational reforms. Proposed activities are grouped into three components:
1. Reforms of KWSB: This component will continue to build capacity and improve the operational performance of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) by supporting institutional reforms; revenue management, customer care and communication; non-revenue water reduction; preparation and implementation of water safety plans; water wastage reduction program and water audits.
2. Securing Sustainable Water Supply and Sewerage Services: This component will invest in key water and sewerage infrastructure to address three interlinked structural problems in Karachi’s water and sanitation system – the overall supply shortfall; the low water quality; and the lack of sewage treatment capacity.
3. Project Management: This component will support project management, implementation supervision and institutional strengthening of KWSB.
The Project will be co-financed with the World Bank (WB) as lead co-financier and its environmental and social (ES) risks and impacts have been assessed in accordance with the WB’s Environment and Social Framework (ESF). To ensure a harmonized approach to addressing the ES risks and impacts of the Project, and as permitted under AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), AIIB agrees that the WB ESF will apply to the project in lieu of AIIB’s ESP. AIIB has reviewed the WB ESF and is satisfied that: (a) it is consistent with AIIB’s Articles of Agreement and materially consistent with the provisions of AIIB’s ESP and the relevant ES Standards; and (b) the monitoring procedures that are in place are appropriate for the project.
The Environmental Management Framework (EMF) and Social Management Framework (SMF) including a Resettlement Planning Framework (RPF) will be updated. ES instruments for individual sub-components of the project will be prepared including Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs), Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) and Resettlement Plans (RPs). In addition, an Environmental and Social Review of the on-going K-IV project, and an Ecological Assessment of the wetlands/Ramsar sites for downstream-Indus impacts will be conducted.
Upon completion, the project is likely to generate significant environmental and social benefits including improved water quality of the affected Malir River and coast; availability of safe, reliable and predictable water supply and sewerage services; and improved health and hygiene. Women and children are especially expected to benefit from the project since they suffer most from poor or lack of basic urban services. The potentially adverse environmental impacts during the construction phase will mostly be temporary and reversible. The adverse environmental impacts during the operation phase including those of the sewage treatment plants are manageable. The mitigation measures and management plans to address the adverse impacts will be included in the ES instruments.
Larger infrastructure investments will require land acquisition and may involve resettlement in addition to involuntary economic displacement and temporary negative livelihood impacts during construction. These impacts and any legacy impacts will be addressed through RPs.
The project is investing in energy efficient improvements which will contribute to climate change mitigation. Improvements in water and sewer systems are also critical to successful climate change adaptation.
Consultations will be carried out with a wide range of stakeholders (communities and institutional stakeholders) for this Project. A Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) will be prepared to guide the process. The ES documentation will be disclosed by KWSB and WB on their websites. A link to these websites will be posted on the AIIB website. The executive summaries of the documents will be translated into Sindhi and disclosed locally in hard copy.
The established Grievance Redress Mechanism will be updated and adapted to this Project in line with the requirements of the WB’s ESF and included in the SEP.
Ghufran Shafi
Senior Investment Operations Specialist
World Bank
Andreas Rohde
Senior Sanitary Engineer
Home What We Do Project List Pakistan: Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project-2 (KWSSIP-2)
