The World Bank's independent investigative body, the Inspection Panel, has found serious problems relating to a Bank-funded irrigation project in Pakistan, noting that it has led to 'widespread environmental harm and suffering among communities.'

Other main conclusions are that the project has contributed to floods, and violates six of the Bank’s binding policies.

The World Bank approved $285 million for Pakistan's National Drainage Program project (NDP) in 1997. This was supposed to improve drainage in Pakistan's irrigation system to address the problems of salinisation and waterlogging. Most of the issues raised relate to a related earlier, closed project, the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) in Sindh province, which the NDP aimed to extend northwards.

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Posted by rjorr at October 31, 2006 10:38 AM