Delegation from Asian Development Bank in city to discuss Musi development

A 12-member delegation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is on a visit in the city for the past four days, holding deliberations on various aspects of the Musi Riverfront Development project with the officials concerned.

ADB has given an in principle approval for a loan of ₹4,100 crore, after perusing the State government’s preliminary report sent through the Ministry of Jal Shakti for financing under the National River Conservation Plan.

The delegation headed by ADB’s senior Urban Development specialist Momoko Nitta (Tada) arrived in the city on January 18, Sunday. The next day, the delegation had a meeting with MRDCL officials where the project scope and city development plan were discussed.

In the following days, the deliberations went on to include flood management and sewage management components too. On Wednesday, the key discussion was on ADB’s Environmental and Social Framework which has been adopted by the multilateral financial institution from January 1 replacing the earlier Safeguard Policy Statement.

The ESF provides stronger environmental and social protections and requirements that are clearer and tailored to each project and specific country contexts, as per the description on ADB’s website. The framework also adopts a risk-based and adaptive management approach. Accordingly, a conversation around project specific environmental and social safeguards with emphasis on gender was included in the visit.

Officials informed that the site visits by the team will take place on Thursday (January 22). The locations scheduled for the visit include Osmansagar reservoir, Himayatsagar reservoir, Narsingi Junction, Ibrahimbagh bridge, Tipu Khan bridge, Bapughat and Kismatpur bridge.

The visit is being kept extremely low key in order to avoid media attention and possible protests by the families displaced during the evictions in October 2024.