MANILA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday said it has approved a loan of 50 million U.S. dollars to improve water resources management, access to water, and community resilience to the effects of climate change in India.

The climate-adaptive community-based water-harvesting project in the state of Meghalaya will help develop a state-wide water-harvesting system master plan that considers weather patterns and disaster risk management, the ADB said.

The project will support the construction of 532 water-storage facilities across 12 districts, the Manila-based bank said, adding that those facilities will be designed with a strong emphasis on climate resilience, enabling them to effectively capture and manage heavy rainfall and flash floods during the monsoon season.

The stored water will provide irrigation water during the winter dry season and the benefits of flood management, it added.

The ADB said the project will also develop at least 3,000 hectares of command area to provide reliable irrigation areas for farmers. ■