Explanation:

NITI Aayog has released the second Round of Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0). NITI Aayog first launched the Composite Water Management Index in 2018 as a tool to assess and improve the performance of States/ UTs in efficient management of water resources. This has been done by NITI Aayog in partnership with Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Rural Development and all the States/ Union Territories. CWMI 2.0 ranks various states for the reference year 2017-18 as against the base year 2016-17. 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. 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.