The project is funded through an $850,000 grant from the Investment Climate Facilitation Fund established by the Government of Japan last year under the Regional Cooperation and Integration Financing Partnership Facility, which supports technical assistance projects, a press release issued by the Asian Development Bank said.

The project will also determine the levels of non-revenue water, operational efficiencies, and operations management system of the select urban centers.

"To improve urban water management, water security in South Asian urban centers needs to be properly assessed and reliable information shared. But this is not an easy task due to inconsistencies and differing definitions of terms and formats in gathering data, as well as the processes used in collecting and analyzing data," said principal urban development specialist of ADB's South Asia Department, KyeongAe Choe.