ADB helps improve Mandalay urban services
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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$60 million loan to improve the urban environment and boost public health through better water management in Mandalay.
“Mandalay has enormous potential to become a national economic center, driving growth along the economic corridor linking India to China through Mandalay. However urban services are still substandard and the city is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” said Eri Honda, principal urban development specialist in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department. “The assistance will focus on providing modern water supply and wastewater management, and making these sustainable.”
The assistance was supported by the expectation that the historic city can further develop as the cultural, educational and economic hub of northern Myanmar.
The country’s second-largest city is home to 2 per cent of the population and generates about 8 per cent of the national GDP.
However, the piped water system reaches only 55 per cent of residents, sanitation consists of septic tanks connected to roadside drains and latrines, and solid waste is dumped into the canals. Mandalay is also prone to intense flooding during the wet season.
