Shattered Lives and Broken Promises

Date: 
Monday, October 15, 2007

The Unresolved Legacy of the World Bank's National Drainage Program in Pakistan - an Eyewitness Account

The World Bank's Inspection Panel (IP) issued its investigation report for the Bank-funded Pakistan National Drainage Program in 2006. The IP report found that Bank management had violated six of the Bank's safeguard policies in the NDP project, contributing to the loss of lives and livelihoods in Pakistan's southern Sindh province. In response to the findings of the IP investigation, Bank management outlined measures they would take to address the policy violations and problems in the NDP.

In April 2007, an International Rivers staff member visited the affected areas in Sindh province to gather first-hand information regarding the implementation of the World Bank's Action Plan. In early July 2007, one of the requesters of the NDP Inspection Panel case spoke with people living in the areas affected by the NDP project. This report summarizes information gathered during these field visits. The report concludes that due to the severe shortcomings of the Action Plan and the extremely slow progress of its implementation, the extreme vulnerability and suffering of the people in the lower Indus Basin are today as great as four years ago.

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