Sanitation improvement project in Odisha with JICA funding

JICA is only the financial agency while Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) of government of Odisha is the implementing body, which is responsible in undertaking the project implementation , Senior Representative of JICA, Takayoshi Tange said in a statement.

Referring to media reports about the ongoing works of the drainage and sewerage projects in Cuttack city, Takayoshi Tange clarified that the loan projects supported through JICA's assistance are executed by local government agencies.

As JICA is only the finanial agency and it has no role in implementation, the agency is neither in a position to commit nor report on when the project could be completed, Takayoshi Tange maintained.

Sharing the concerns of JICA on the issue, OWSSB Project Director Basant Kumar Parida also said that the two ambitious projects (Drainage and Sewerage) of Cuttack city are implemented by OWSSB under Odisha Integrated Sanitation Implementation Project.

Parida also informed that the project works are now being carried out by four local works contractor agencies and maintained that the drainage division work will be over by July, 2018 and the sewerage works will be completed by September, 2018.

JICA has provided Official Development Assistance Loan (ODA Loan) of 25,796 million Japanese Yen (approximately INR 1,535 crore) for Odisha Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project (Phase II) on March 31, 2016, a senior official said.

This was in addition to loan for Phase I, which was signed on March 30, 2007 to provide up to 19,061 million Japanese Yen (approx. INR 756 crore). By adding this loan, the cumulative loan amount for this project becomes 44,857 million Japanese Yen (around Rs 2291 crore), he said.

Giving details of the projects, he said JICA's assistance is to support construction of sewerage system which includes construction of 3 Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs), with total capacity of 100 Million Litre per Day (MLD).

Of these, 2 STPs in Cuttack are designed to treat all domestic wastewater generated within Cuttack municipal area and 1 STP in Bhubaneswar is designed to treat domestic wastewater generated within Bhubaneswar.

The assistance also includes extensive sewer networks (nearly 700 kms) in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, as well as improvement of drainage system (more than 20 kms) in Cuttack city, the official said.