World Bank Technical Paper No. 376. Roads are agents of change and can be responsible for both benefits and damage to the existing balance between people and their environment. This handbook examines specific road projects ranging from minor rehabilitation and maintenance activities on existing roads to major works on new alignments. It provides a description of practical methods for designing and executing effective environmental assessments that are useful to those who are involved in various aspects of road projects, from planning to construction to maintenance.

Physical limits to fresh water expansion--an emerging reality in many parts of the world--make absolute water scarcity inevitable. The inability of the already developed water supply to meet an ever-growing demand for fresh water also makes the emergence of relative water scarcity unavoidable. Water scarcity--both in its absolute and relative forms--gets accentuated further by an increasing premium attached to water quality and ecological sustainability. The water sector has undergone remarkable changes in recent years. While past achievements were associated mainly with investment in new...

'It has been my cherished desire to usher in a SMART government, which will be simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent. I am very keen that the capabilities of the people should be harnessed and enhanced. Involvement of the people and stakeholders in delivery of public services through self-help and collective action should take place in all important sectors such as irrigation, education, health and welfare, civic amenities, for a better quality of life.' - Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh While the Irrigation Department in Andhra Pradesh was preoccupied...

This report evaluates the history and development of district heating and district cooling, together referred to as district energy, in North America, Western Europe, Asia, Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. It reviews the key institutional, economic, financial, technical, and environmental issues in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union in order to arrive at operationally relevant issues as well as to define opportunities for new activities to be supported by the World Bank.

The World Bank organized a conference in 1999 to analyze issues and options prior to the December 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting. Papers included in this book were commissioned for this conference to highlight the main trade issues of importance to different regions of the world. The papers include perspectives from Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and industrialized countries. The book contains a chapter on multilateral agricultural policy reform.

Many inhabitants of rural areas in developing countries do not have adequate and affordable access to transport infrastructure services. Insufficient access to transport constrains economic and social development and contributes to poverty. This book focuses on improving rural mobility by facilitating the provision of affordable means of transport and transport services. It concentrates on the many and varied types of transport that provide mobility such as bus service, freight trucks, bush taxis, transport animals, bicycles, and handcarts.

This paper provides the basis for the preparation of manuals necessary for managers and staffs to perform needed activities at the proper time. The guide provides a comprehensive list of issues that should be addressed in operation and maintenance manuals for irrigation and drainage systems, and a listing of published materials and working papers which will assist in the formulation of plans for operation and maintenance. The paper serves as a valuable tool to help improve the performance of irrigation and drainage systems and to assist managers in developing and improving effective...

Irrigation and drainage play a major role in the accelerated growth of rural economies and consequently, to measurable poverty reduction. This report contains selected papers and presentations given at the Institutional Reform for Irrigation and Drainage Workshop held at the World Bank in December 2000. The first part of this report deals with the institutional diversity in irrigation and drainage sectors. The second examines the regulatory framework of the irrigation sector and the third looks at the benchmarking system, economic incentives, and pricing.