CDRI announces $2.47 million climate fund for cities in Latin America, South Asia

NEw new delhi: The fusion for Disaster Resilient substructure (CDRI) on tues proclaimed a USD 2.47 million fund to implement five urban resilience projects in 16 cities across five countries in Latin America and South Asia, including India. These projects aim to benefit nearly 2.9 million people in Bhutan, Brazil, Honduras, India, and Sri Lanka by creating climate-resilient cities through integrated planning, innovation, and community participation. CDRI is a global coalition that focuses on improving the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risk. CDRI said in a press statement that with a commitment of USD 2.47 million from the Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund, the CDRI’s trust fund, these projects are said to generate an estimated savings of USD 91 million in operations and management and impact infrastructure investments exceeding USD 161 million in the 16 cities.In India, the funds will go into implementing risk-informed water security strategies in the Chikkaballapur district in Karnataka. CDRI said the project is likely to impact the lives of 300,000 people. Chikkaballapur district in Karnataka does not have perennial water sources for drinking water supply and agriculture. The only source is groundwater, which has already been overexploited. According to the CDRI statement, Chintamani, one of the focus cities, is plagued by challenges related to both groundwater and surface water, There is a high borewell failure rate due to a lack of knowledge of the region’s geology and aquifers and the dumping of untreated sewage into water bodies, which is also leading to pollution. The project in Bhutan covers three cities -- Thimphu, Phuntsholing, and Samtse-- and aims to develop early warning systems and resilient public space planning. CDRI states these projects are expected to benefit 275,000 people in these cities. In Brazil, the focus is on nature-based solutions and data tools to reduce the impact of urban flooding on 70,000 residents of Porto Alegre. Creating climate-proof healthcare infrastructure is the focal point in Honduras, which aims to provide services to the 50,000 vulnerable residents. In Sri Lanka, real-time water monitoring and infrastructure upgrades will improve the lives of more than two million Colombo, Kotte, and Kelaniya residents. Announcing these projects, Amit Prothi, DG at the CDRI, said, “These projects will empower cities worldwide to address evolving urban challenges in health, water, and climate through locally anchored, globally informed resilience planning solutions.”