Composite Water Management Index by NITI Ayog
Nearly 600 million Indians faced high to extreme water stress and about 2,00,000 people died every year due to inadequate access to safe water. Twenty-one cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people, the study noted. If matters are to continue, there will be a 6% loss in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2050, the report says.
Moreover, critical groundwater resources, which accounted for 40% of India’s water supply, are being depleted at “unsustainable” rates and up to 70% of India’s water supply is “contaminated,” the report says
About 60% of the States were marked as “low performers” and this was cause for “alarm,” according to the report. Many of the States that performed badly on the index — Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh — accounted for 20-30% of India’s agricultural output. “Given the combination of rapidly declining groundwater levels and limited policy action…this is likely to be a significant food security risk for the country,” the report says.
On the other hand, the index noted, several of the high and medium performers — Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana — had faced droughts in recent years. Therefore, a lack of water was not necessary grounds for States not initiating action on conservation. Most of the gains registered by the States were due to their restoration of surface water bodies, watershed development activities and rural water supply provision.
In pursuit of cooperative and competitive federalism, NITI Aayog has been laying emphasis on developing indicators on various social sectors. In February 2018, NITI Aayog had released a report on “Healthy States, Progressive India” which covered the ranking of States/ UTs in various health parameters. As a step further in direction and keeping in view the criticality of water for life, NITI Aayog has prepared a report on Composite Water Management Index (CWMI). The Report was launched today by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog and Secretaries/ senior officials of Ministry of Water Resources, Drinking Water & Sanitation and Rural Development were also present at the launch event.
The CWMIis an important tool to assess and improve the performance of States/ 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 Water Resources, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation and all the States/ Union Territories.The index would provide 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.Simultaneously a web portal on the subject has also been launched.
The report released today ranks Gujarat as number one in the reference year (2016-17), followed by Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
In North Eastern and Himalayan States, Tripura has been adjudged number 1 in 2016-17 followed by Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Assam.
In terms of incremental change in index (over 2015-16 level), Rajasthan holds number one position in general States and Tripura ranks at first position amongst North Eastern and Himalayan States.
NITI Aayog proposes to publish these ranks on an annual basis in future.
About Composite Water Management Index (CWMI)
CWMI has been developed by NITI Aayog comprising 9 broad sectors with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of ground water, restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance (Box-1). For the purposes of analysis, the reporting states were divided into two special groups – ‘North Eastern and Himalayan states’ and ‘Other States’, to account for the different hydrological conditions across these groups.
from report itself
India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history and millions of lives and livelihoods are under
threat. Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people die
every year due to inadequate access to safe water1
. The crisis is only going to get worse. By 2030, thecountry’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity forhundreds of millions of people and an eventual ~6% loss in the country’s GDP2
. As per the report ofNational Commission for Integrated Water Resource Development of MoWR, the water requirement by2050 in high use scenario is likely to be a milder 1,180 BCM, whereas the present-day availability is 695
BCM. The total availability of water possible in country is still lower than this projected demand, at 1,137
BCM. Thus, there is an imminent need to deepen our understanding of our water resources and usage
and put in place interventions that make our water use efficient and sustainable.
The National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has developed the Composite Water
Management Index (CWMI) to enable effective water management in Indian states in the face of this
growing crisis.
The Index and this associated report are expected to: (1) establish a clear baseline and benchmark for
state-level performance on key water indicators; (2) uncover and explain how states have progressed on
water issues over time, including identifying high-performers and under-performers, thereby inculcating
a culture of constructive competition among states; and, (3) identify areas for deeper engagement and
investment on the part of the states. Eventually, NITI Aayog plans to develop the index into a composite,
national-level data management platform for all water resources in India.
Figure 1: State-level performance on water resource management5
Ranking of states according to Composite Water Index Scores (FY 16-17)
Water Index scores vary widely across states, but most states have achieved a score below 50% and
could significantly improve their water resource management practices. The Water Index scores for FY
16-17 vary from 76 (Gujarat) to 26 (Meghalaya), with the median score being ~49 for Non-Himalayan
states and ~31 for North-Eastern and Himalayan states (Figure 1). Gujarat is the highest performer, closely
followed by other High performers such as Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Seven states have scores
between ~50-65 (including two North-Eastern and Himalayan states) and have been classified as Medium
performers. Alarmingly, ~60% of states (14 out of 24) have achieved scores below 50 and have been
classified as Low performers (Figure 2). Low performers are concentrated across the populous agricultural
belts of North and East India, and among the North-Eastern and Himalayan states.
5 The scores for ‘Non-Himalayan’ and ‘North-Eastern and Himalayan’ states were calculated separately, by using only the range of scores in thegiven category in the calculations. Thus, ‘North-Eastern and Himalayan’ states’ scores were scaled considering only the range of scores in the‘North-Eastern and Himalayan’ category, to account for the different hydrological conditions in these states as compared to the rest of the
country. This means that the scores of all states have been scored fairly and are, thus, comparable at even the national level across categories.