- NITI Aayog has released a second report on Composite Water Management Index(CWMI 2.0).
- The report has been prepared in association with Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Rural Development.
- CWMI 2.0 ranks various states for the reference year 2017-18 as against the base year 2016-17.
- Gujarat continues to hold on to its rank one followed by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
- In North-Eastern and the Himalayan States,Himachal Pradesh has been awarded rank one followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura and Assam.For the first time,Union Territories have submitted their data and Puducherry has been declared the top ranker.
- The index said that on an average,80% of the states assessed on the Index over the last three years have improved their water management scores.
- NITI Aayog had first launched the Composite Water Management Index(CWMI) in 2018 as a tool to instill a sense of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states
- The index provides useful information for the states and also for the concerned central ministries/departments enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources.
- The index consists of 9 key themes which are (a)Restoration of Water Bodies (b)Groundwater (c)Major and Medium Irrigation (d)Watershed Development (e)Participatory Irrigation Practices (f)Sustainable on-form Water Use Practices (g)Rural Drinking Water (h)Urban Water Supply and Sanitation and (I)Policy and Governance.