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$400m for development of costal embankment

Star Business Desk
The government yesterday signed a financing agreement worth $400 million for the Coastal Embankment Improvement Project (CEIP I) with the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessional arm.
The amount includes $375 million soft credit from the IDA and $25 million grant from the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience, the World Bank said in a statement yesterday.
The project will help upgrade Bangladesh's embankment system and increase area protected by polders from tidal flooding and frequent storm surges, according to the statement.
The project will rehabilitate 600 kilometres embankments in 17 polders in six coastal districts: Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Barguna, Patuakhali, and Pirojpur. The rehabilitated polders would provide direct protection to 760,000 people
1 i vi ng within the polder boundaries.
Md Abul Kalam Azad, secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Christine E Kimes, acting head of the World Bank Bangladesh country office, signed the deal at the ERD in the capital.
A recent World Bank study estimated that currently eight million people are vulnerable to inundation depths greater than 3 meters due to cyclonic storm surges in Bangladesh.
By 2050, this number may increase to 13.5 million due to population growth and by an additional 9 million due to climate change.
"Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue. It is a fundamental threat to economic development and poverty reduction," Kimes said.
Tn a changing climate, there is an urgent need to upgrade the embankment system for enhancing resilience of coastal areas to cyclones, tidal and flood inundations, and salinity intrusion."
In addition to providing protection against storm surges and floods, the project will help to reduce poverty by facilitating the growth of farm and non-farm activities in the coastal area.
Around 3.5 million people living in these six districts would benefit through agriculture development, employment and food security, the World Bank said.
"Coastal embankments are an integral part of the disaster risk reduction programme for Bangladesh," the ERD secretary said. "This project will upgrade them systematically to protect thousands whose lives and livelihood are now at risk."
The CEIP I contributes to the government's longer term programme to upgrade the whole coastal embankment system. If the project proves successful, investment support could be scaled up.
The credit from the IDA has 40 years to maturity, including a 10-year grace period; and carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.