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New Delhi : NITI Aayog will release the second Round of Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0) on August 23, 2019, in New Delhi. It will be launched by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister for Jal Shakti, and Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.
Inspired by PM Narendra Modi’s impetus on Jal Sanchay, Jal Shakti Ministry on July 1, 2019, launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyaan, a campaign for water conservation and water security in 1592 water stressed blocks in 256 districts, to ensure important water conservation interventions. To supplement the efforts of Jal Shakti Ministry, NITI Aayog has prepared the second Round of Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0).
The CWMI is an important tool to assess and improve the performance of States and Union Territories in efficient management of water resources. This has been done through a first of its kind water data collection exercise in partnership with Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Rural Development, and all the States/ Union Territories. The index would provide useful information to the States and also to the Central Ministries/Departments concerned enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources. CWMI 2.0 ranks various states for the reference year 2017-18 as against the base year 2016-17.
NITI Aayog first launched and conceptualised the Composite Water Management Index in 2018 as a tool to instill the sense of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states. 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. The report was widely acknowledged and provided actionable guidance to States on where they were doing well absolutely and relatively and what they needed to focus on to secure their water future, according to a PIB release.