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Bihar, Jharkhand set to sign MoU for sharing Sone river waters
New Delhi: Bihar and Jharkhand are set to sign an agreement formalising the sharing of Sone river waters, bringing to a close a dispute that has remained unresolved since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000, with the Union government now working to finalise a date for the signing ceremony
New Delhi: Bihar and Jharkhand are set to sign an agreement formalising the sharing of Sone river waters, bringing to a close a dispute that has remained unresolved since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000, with the Union government now working to finalise a date for the signing ceremony.
According to a senior Union Jal Shakti ministry official, the agreement could be signed “any day now” after both states completed their internal approvals. “The signing can come any day now as matters have been resolved at both ends. Jharkhand passed the matter in its cabinet earlier this month. Our paperwork is also ready, all that needs to be done is get everyone’s time aligned so it can be signed,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
An Office Memorandum seen by HT issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti on July 14 said both Bihar and Jharkhand had conveyed their formal consent for executing the agreement and proposed that it be signed in August in the presence of the Union Jal Shakti Minister and the chief ministers of the two states. The ministry said the date, time and venue would be communicated separately.
The agreement settles the division of the erstwhile undivided Bihar’s allocation under the 1973 Bansagar Agreement. Of the total 7.75 million acre-feet (MAF) of Sone river water originally allocated to Bihar, 5.75 MAF will now go to Bihar and the remaining 2.0 MAF to Jharkhand. The allocation follows the unanimous recommendation of a committee constituted by the Centre under the chairmanship of the Central Water Commission to resolve the long-pending issue.
The Bansagar Agreement, signed in 1973 between Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and the then undivided Bihar, governs the sharing of Sone river waters. While the agreement continued after Jharkhand was carved out in November 2000, the division of Bihar’s share between the two successor states had remained unresolved for nearly 25 years.
The ministry memorandum states that a committee constituted by the Centre, with representatives from both state governments, unanimously recommended the 5.75 MAF-2.0 MAF formula, following which a draft agreement was circulated to the two states for concurrence.
What next?
The official said the Centre would now turn its attention to resolving another long-pending interstate river dispute. “The Mahanadi river dispute is next. Both Chhattisgarh and Odisha have approached the government for a resolution,” the official said.
The Mahanadi dispute centres on disagreements between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over water sharing and the construction of upstream projects on the river, an issue that has been pending before a tribunal for several years. The official did not indicate what form the Centre’s intervention would take or provide a timeline for initiating talks.
