GUWAHATI: Assam’s recent ranking of 21st position among the total 24 states in a study conducted by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has brought glares on the state government.
While Gujarat topped the list followed by Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, Assam is among the last four, followed by Nagaland, Uttarakhand, and Meghalaya.
The Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) is based on various water resource management parameters involving ground, surface and rain water. The samples were divided based on non-Himalayan states and Himalayan states. Assam, along with Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Uttarakhand were the Himalayan states.
Assam received only 31 CWMI points. The NITI study report stated that the states which achieved below 50 points in the water management index can be termed as “alarming”.
As per the NITI Aayog study, the performance of Assam has alarmingly declined by 3.06 points from the financial year 2015-16 to 2016-17. On the other hand, Tripura and Sikkim have improved their performance considerably in the last two years, mentioned the report.
The water index in Assam is also very alarming in terms of urban water management as it is second last before Goa in the list.