Oct 11, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Cabinet of ministers has given President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning approval to obtain a loan of US$ 40 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to complete a water and sanitation project for dry zone. At the regular Cabinet meeting held yesterday, the Cabinet has approved the proposal made by the President to negotiate with the ADB to obtain Special Drawing Rights (SDR) equivalent to US$ 40 million as additional financing for the completion of the original scope of the Dry Zone Urban Water and Sanitation Project. The Project will supplement funding of the original project to meet cost overruns to ensure that safe drinking water and sanitation services are provided to the four urban areas of Chilaw, Mannar, Puttalam, and Vavuniya and to achieve the full impact envisaged under the original project. This project will cover the construction of three new water treatment plants and improvement of sanitation facilities in those four areas. Once completed, the project will provide safe drinking water to more than 453,000 people living in the relevant areas.