Arsalan informs CAIP forum: Sindh to benefit from climate resilience, urban uplift investments

Sukkur Mayor Barrister Arsalan Islam Shaikh, speaking to the media after attending the Climate Adaptation Investment Planning Forum in Manila, outlined climate resilience and urban investment plans for Sindh, according to Business Recorder. He said the forum, hosted at the Asian Development Bank headquarters, brought together government officials, development partners and international lenders to discuss integrated planning and climate-resilient infrastructure.

The Sindh government, working with the ADB, has begun rolling out the Sindh Secondary Cities Improvement and Investment Programme, with an estimated investment of USD1 billion, or about Rs278 billion, for five divisional headquarters: Sukkur, Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad. Shaikh said the programme will target water supply, wastewater, solid waste handling and scientific landfill sites, along with public-private partnership projects intended to make municipal corporations financially self-sufficient. Documents for Project Readiness Financing are close to finalisation, with publication anticipated shortly.

Separately, a USD2 million grant from the Urban Resilience Trust Fund, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, the UK Government and the ADB, will fund heat and climate adaptation planning for Sukkur. Shaikh stressed that the money is grant-based rather than a loan, with no repayment or service charges, and that international consultants are due to start in November 2026. He also said he had offered condolences to the Madhesh Province chief minister in Nepal over lives lost in recent floods.