The composite water management index (CWMI) 2.0 was released by NITI Aayog.

             The states are ranked across nine themes, including attention to groundwater and restoration of water bodies,and cover 25 states and two union territories. The objective of index is to involve all key stakeholders to understand how states can better manage water resources. The CWMI is an important tool to assess and improve the performance of states and union territories in efficient management of water resources. 

              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. This was a first ever attempt at creating a pan-India set of metrics that measured different dimensions of water management and use across the lifecycle of water. 

• Gujarat hold on to its rank one in the reference year (2017-18), followed by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• In North Eastern and Himalayan States, Himachal Pradesh has been adjudged number 1 in 2017-18 followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura and Assam.
• The Union Territories have first time submitted their data and Puducherry has been declared as the top ranker.
• In terms of incremental change in index (over 2016-17 level), Haryana holds number one position in general States and Uttarakhand ranks at first position amongst North Eastern and Himalayan States.
• On an average, 80% of the states assessed on the Index over the last three years have improved their water management scores, with an average improvement of +5.2 points.
• States, including Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar, continued to be in the low-performing category

                  The report said states are displaying progress in water management, but the overall performance remains well-below of what is required to adequately tackle India’s water challenges.