Guwahati, Nov. 28: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is preparing an integrated flood control and erosion mitigation strategy for Assam to help the state overcome the recurrent menace.

The India Country Strategy and Programme (CSP), 2006-08, of the bank said the Assam Integrated Flood Control and River Erosion Mitigation Project has been considered for getting preparatory technical assistance and funding.

According to a concept paper prepared by the ADB, the bank will start providing the preparatory technical assistance next year. The actual loan will be sanctioned, in phases, from 2008 for a period of five years. The proposed assistance is worth $ 200 million.

?The Brahmaputra, the fifth largest river in the world, serves as a lifeline for Assam and other states in the Northeast. However, unpredictable shifts of the river, severe erosion, and frequent flooding have great adverse effects on the economy and ecology, affecting and threatening key urban centres, basic infrastructure, industrial and agriculture areas and natural heritage sites,? the paper states.

The technical assistance and ensuing project will protect areas of socio-economic and national interests such as tea plantations and oil refineries, as well as the vulnerable poor, numbering nearly 1.3 million, in Assam through effective flood protection and river training activities.

The paper also stresses on the need for the state government to undertake critical investments and strengthen administrative policy and institutional framework for flood control.

The technical assistance will be provided in two phases.