3 June 2026, Colombo, Sri Lanka. UN-Habitat, together with the National Water Supply & Drainage Board (NWSDB) is implementing the project “Safe and Resilient Water Supply for Western Cities – Integrating Climate Resilience into Water Safety Plans of the Ambatale Water Supply Scheme”. The project is funded through a USD 469,232 grant from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure’s trust fund, IRAF, with financial support from the Government of India.

The project’s first national steering committee meeting was chaired by Mr. Kumudulal Bogahawatta, Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Construction and Water Supply on 3 June 2026 at the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Water Supply in Colombo.

UN-Habitat provided an overview of the project, which included a review of the workplan and expenditure; overall progress; planned activities and project’s risk management and mitigation measures.

During the discussion, the Chair appreciated the importance of including heavy metals and micro plastics in water quality testing to ensure that the catchment assessment captures parameters that go beyond those currently tested. Furthermore, NWSDB noted the importance of using accredited laboratories for testing water samples to guarantee reliability of the findings. The timeliness of the project was reiterated by the Chair, who stressed the importance of the project’s sustainability and institutionalization of databases for a successful outcome.

The committee also discussed the final output of the project which focuses on capacity building of Local Authorities and NWSDB to develop bankable proposals, with UN-Habitat welcoming recommendations from officials on priority areas that may require financing.

The overall project aims to improve the catchment management capacities of Urban Local Authorities and the early warning capacities of NWSDB to increase the resilience of operations and maintenance of the Ambatale Water Supply Scheme and Biyagama Water Supply scheme, pertaining to climate change induced floods and droughts.