Balochistan flood resilience project faces delays despite housing support progress

QUETTA: Implementation of a major World Bank-backed flood resilience programme in Balochistan is facing significant delays, with slow progress on infrastructure, climate services and housing reconstruction raising concerns about the project’s ability to meet its targets before the scheduled completion date.

The Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project (P180323), launched in the aftermath of the devastating 2022 floods, has seen mixed results. While more than 74,000 affected households have received the first tranche of financial assistance for housing reconstruction, several key components of the project remain substantially behind schedule.

According to the World Bank’s latest Implementation Status and Results Report, overall implementation progress has been downgraded to “Moderately Unsatisfactory”, while the project’s development objective continues to carry a “Moderately Satisfactory” rating.

The overall risk associated with the project remains high.

The programme was approved in May 2023 with the broader objective of helping flood-affected communities restore livelihoods, regain access to essential services and strengthen their ability to withstand future climate-related disasters.

Infrastructure work gains momentum

The project includes several major components covering community infrastructure, resilient housing, hydro-meteorological and climate services, as well as institutional strengthening and project management.

The World Bank reported some improvement in the community infrastructure component following the appointment of a dedicated project director and the strengthening of the Project Implementation Unit.

Detailed engineering designs and bidding documents are now close to completion, while procurement activities have begun.

Despite these developments, the project has yet to achieve any of the three development-objective-linked output indicators associated with the component.

The gap reflects the difference between preparatory work and actual delivery of infrastructure on the ground, with authorities still required to translate procurement and planning progress into completed projects for flood-affected communities.

Climate services remain behind schedule

Progress has also been reported in the climate-services component following the appointment of a new deputy project director and the award of a contract for Automatic Weather Stations (AWS).

However, several critical steps remain outstanding.

The onboarding of the system integrator has yet to be completed, while a number of important procurement activities are still pending.

The project aims to strengthen Balochistan’s ability to monitor weather conditions and provide timely warnings to communities exposed to floods and other climate-related hazards.

Under the programme, the authorities are targeting the installation of 110 Automatic Weather Stations and the operationalisation of four weather radars.

As of July 2026, none of the targeted weather radars had become operational.

One positive development has been the establishment of a hydrological modelling-based early warning system for hill torrents in Balochistan, which could improve preparedness in areas vulnerable to sudden flooding.

Housing component performs better

The strongest performance has been recorded under the resilient housing component.

More than 74,000 households have received the first tranche of housing assistance, providing financial support to families whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the 2022 floods.

However, the World Bank has identified several risks that could affect further progress.

These include a decision by the Project Steering Committee to limit beneficiary coverage, a funding shortfall affecting other eligible households, unresolved complaints and grievances, and communication difficulties with beneficiaries.

The World Bank warned that these issues could undermine confidence in the programme and affect its ability to reach the intended beneficiaries.

The physical reconstruction figures also show that considerable work remains.

By July 2026, only 30,226 housing units had been restored or reconstructed against the project’s target of 97,000 homes by December 2028.

This means authorities will need to significantly accelerate reconstruction during the remaining implementation period if the target is to be achieved.

Essential services target remains distant

The project also aims to restore access to essential services for flood-affected communities.

By July 2026, around 214,217 people had regained access to at least one essential service.

However, the eventual target is 1.5 million people, indicating a substantial gap between current achievements and the programme’s planned outcome.

Similarly, the project has yet to register progress against its target of improving climate resilience for 1.8 million people.

The figures suggest that while financial assistance and preparatory activities have moved forward, the broader resilience-building objectives are yet to translate into measurable results on the required scale.

Irrigation and flood protection work yet to deliver

The restoration of flood-damaged irrigation systems is another major area where implementation remains slow.

The project has a target of restoring irrigation infrastructure covering approximately 50,000 hectares.

A similar target has been set for improving flood-protection infrastructure over an area of 50,000 hectares.

However, as of July 2026, no achievement had been recorded against either target.

The lack of progress is particularly significant given the importance of irrigation to livelihoods in Balochistan, where agriculture and livestock remain major sources of income for many communities.

Restoring damaged irrigation networks is also critical to rebuilding economic activity in areas affected by the 2022 floods.

Financing constraints add pressure

Financial challenges are adding another layer of difficulty to implementation.

The project has a revised allocation of approximately $214.03 million under the IDA-73330 facility.

Of this amount, around $113.97 million, equivalent to 62.61%, has been disbursed, while approximately $68.05 million remains undisbursed.

In addition, a separate $32 million IDA-78980 facility remains completely undisbursed.

The financing position means authorities have both resources and time constraints to manage as they seek to accelerate implementation.

Bridging funding gaps for eligible beneficiaries and ensuring timely utilisation of available financing will be crucial to maintaining momentum during the remaining project period.

Grievances and communication concerns

The World Bank has also highlighted unresolved grievances and communication shortcomings as risks to the housing component.

For a project involving thousands of flood-affected households, effective communication is essential to ensure beneficiaries understand eligibility criteria, payment arrangements, construction requirements and complaint-resolution procedures.

Unresolved grievances could not only delay implementation but also create dissatisfaction among communities that expected assistance following the 2022 floods.

Authorities will therefore need to strengthen communication channels and grievance mechanisms alongside accelerating physical reconstruction.

Limited time remains

The Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project is scheduled to close on December 31, 2028.

With roughly two years remaining, the authorities face a demanding implementation schedule.

They will need to speed up procurement, complete pending technical work, address financing constraints, resolve beneficiary complaints and translate planned interventions into completed infrastructure.

The World Bank’s latest assessment indicates that the project has made some progress, particularly in housing assistance and preparatory work for community infrastructure and climate services. However, major gaps remain in achieving its core resilience targets.

The coming months will therefore be critical for determining whether the programme can move from planning and financial assistance towards large-scale physical implementation.

For Balochistan, which remains highly vulnerable to floods, extreme weather and climate-related risks, timely completion of the project is important not only for rebuilding infrastructure damaged in 2022 but also for strengthening the province’s ability to withstand future disasters.