The Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) has questioned the motives and justification behind the State Government’s decision to seek the ‘so-called assistance’ from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for post-cyclone reconstruction work and demanded wide public consultations before accepting the offer.
Stating that both the banks would reportedly give assistance to the tune of $313 million (World Bank $208 and ADB $105), WIO convenor Ranjan Panda said there is no clarity in the matter because the Government has conceded that a part of this would be ‘soft loan’. Panda said, “While we welcome any idea of assistance for reconstruction and rehabilitation in the Phailin and flood-affected areas, we don’t understand why the Government needs loans for this.”
“World Bank and ADB loans have always come with conditions. These need to be first discussed with the people,” Panda said, adding, “We have seen how these institutions have tried to influence our governance systems and have promoted more privatisation and polluting industries than doing any good.”
“In fact, many of their finances aggravate impacts of climate change and disasters. We need to analyse all aspects of such assistances before receiving them,” warned Panda. “We demand that the detailed project reports for all the activities, along with the conditions set by these institutions, be made public and appropriate suggestions sought before the final decision is taken,” said Panda. “The World Bank and ADB have been trying to push through their loans in non-transparent ways, and we have to see that the poor people do not fall victims to any stringent conditions,” he said.
According to reliable sources, while the World Bank is proposing to provide loans for plantation of mangrove forests under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZM), the ADB is proposing to provide loan to strengthen river and saline embankments. “Both of these activities need critical scrutiny by involvement of local people and experts,” Panda said.
“The ICZM has so far not been able to make much headway in promoting mangrove preservation. Therefore, relying upon it should not be encouraged. Similarly, many times embankments have actually caused more devastation during floods and, hence, need to be thoroughly planned with integration of local knowledge and technology. The Government should consider these along with other ecological issues while planning coastal zone management,” urged Panda.