Written by Dipanita NathPune | November 19, 2025 07:45 PM IST 3 min readThe awards are a part of a campaign to spread awareness about water management and water conservation on a national level. (File photo/Representational)When the 6th National Water Awards were given out by President Doupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on Wednesday, it was Maharashtra that bagged first prize for the Best State. Gujarat emerged in the second position, and Haryana was in the third.Instituted by the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the awards are a part of a campaign to spread awareness about water management and water conservation on a national level. It focuses on the “good work and efforts made by individuals and organisations across the country in attaining the government’s vision of a Jal Samridh Bharat. The awards are for creating awareness among the people about the importance of water and motivating them to adopt best water usage practices”.The award did not come as a surprise for experts of Pune-based Watershed Organisation trust (WOTR), who had earlier carried out an assessment of water governance aspects in multiple states. “Maharashtra’s performance is outstanding compared to that of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand,” says Dr Eshwer Kale, Thematic Lead at WOTR.He adds that vast infrastructure was built through small, medium and major irrigation projects in Maharashtra, besides carrying out an implementation of soil and water conservation measures, such as watershed development in thousands of villages across the state, is a testament to this effort. The organisation applied a Water Governance Standard (WGS) Toolkit, which it has developed, to assess village water governance. “Despite receiving less rainfall and having a highly commercial cropping pattern than Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra fared comparatively better in water resource management,” says Dr Kale.He adds that Maharashtra’s success is not only due to necessity – as over a third of the state is perennially drought-prone and another third often plagued by water scarcity – but also due to significant efforts and investments made in soil and water conservation, watershed development, irrigation projects, and water management over decades. This includes not only creating physical infrastructure but also raising awareness and mobilising communities, building stakeholder ownership, strengthening the capacities of local leadership and institutions, and fostering collaborative partnerships across stakeholders.“Maharashtra has been a pioneer in formulating policies and promoting water efficiency-enhancing technologies in the farm sector, such as the Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority Act, 2005 (MWRRA, 2005), the Maharashtra Groundwater Act 1993 and 2009, and Maharashtra Management of Irrigation Systems by Farmers Act-2005. These factors, among others, have contributed to 67% of villages assessed in Maharashtra receiving a citation, compared to only 6% in Madhya Pradesh and 3% in Jharkhand,” says Crispino Lobo, Co-founder and Managing Trustee of WOTR.Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read MoreClick here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Maharashtra