The Centre and the Asian Development Bank today signed a 4.5 million dollar project readiness financing PRF loan to support project preparation and design activities to improve urban mobility in Aizawl, the capital city of the northeastern state of Mizoram. Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, in the Ministry of Finance Rajat Kumar Mishra signed for the Government of India, while Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission Takeo Konishi signed for ADB.
After signing the agreement, Mr Mishra said that the PRF supports the development of long-term solutions to improve urban mobility in Aizawl by identifying high-priority urban transport investments for the ensuing project and enhancing its readiness by supporting due diligence and other preparatory activities.
Mr Konishi said, the PRF will develop a Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Aizawl that outlines the urban transport development strategy and build synergies with urban development planning initiatives in the state and promote climate and disaster resilience and gender inclusiveness in its interventions.
Urban mobility in Aizawl, the center of Mizoram’s administrative and service industry is severely constrained due to rapid and unplanned urbanization. This results in traffic congestion on narrow road widths and adversely impacts road safety, efficiency in the movement of people and goods and environmental sustainability. The ensuing project, being developed through the PRF, seeks to resolve the city’s transport problems by adopting sustainable urban mobility solutions.
