Japan to help India get better water and conserve forests

New Delhi, Aug 22 (UNI) Japan today said it is ready to further assist India in the form of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to conserve the country's forest and improve its water quality.

Speaking at the Joint Session of the Parliament here, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe said that Japan strongly hopes that the Indian people will nurture their forests and also enjoy the blessings of an abundance of clean water.

''That is why cooperation from Japan in the form of ODA invariably includes items to assist in forest conservation and water quality improvement, year in and year out,'' he said.

Japan's ODA to India, Mr Abe said mostly revolved around ''forest'' and ''water''. He added in Tripura, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, Japanese ODA has been operating in conjunction with the local people to conserve the forest and to assist in reforesting so that people can make a living without cutting down trees of the forest.

In Karnataka, Mr Abe said Japan has helped in tree planting efforts by working along with the local population and promoting projects meant to overcome poverty.

The Japanese PM also pointed out to the sewerage facilities being constructed and repaired to clean up the Ganga, extending sewerage cleansing in Bangalore and purification of water in Hyderabad's Hussain Sagar Lake.

Within 45 years Japan has developed from a country whose famous bullet trains were in part financed with foreign aid, into the largest provider of aid to developing countries.

Japan's ODA spending represents about 20 per cent of the OECD total. Bilateral aid (ODA) has become one of Japan's most effective diplomatic tools.

In response to the Asian economic crisis, Japan made available a combination of grants and loans totaling 80 billion dollars on top of already approved ODA budgets.

UNI