As a boost to the Indian government’s efforts to restore irrigation facilities, the World Bank approved $189 million to fund the Andhra Pradesh Community-Based Tank Management Project. With the objective of improving agricultural productivity and developing local response systems to drought and calamities, the project will upgrade the physical and operational performance of about 3,000 tanks in an area covering 250,000 hectares. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing $94.5 million of the amount, while the remaining half will come from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm. With about 74,000 tanks in its rural areas, Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of tanks in India but inadequate maintenance by government offices in the last ten years has caused a considerable decline in the size of tank-irrigated areas irrigated in the state. (Source: WB aid for restoration of tanks/Time of India; World Bank project seeks to improve agri growth in Andhra Pradesh/Financial Express)
