After 25 years, Bihar and Jarkhand to ink Sone river water sharing pact today
The agreement settles the division of the erstwhile undivided Bihar’s allocation under the 1973 Bansagar Agreement.
Bihar and Jharkhand are set to sign a pact on Monday formalising the sharing of Sone river waters, an issue that has lingered since Jharkhand's separation from Bihar in 2000. The Union Jal Shakti ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that all details have been finalised and both chief ministers are present for the signing ceremony.
This development follows Jharkhand's cabinet approval earlier in July, which had been pending for 25 years. The agreement divides the original 7.75 million acre-feet (MAF) of Sone river water, originally allocated to Bihar under the 1973 Bansagar Agreement, with 5.75 MAF allocated to Bihar and the remaining 2.0 MAF to Jharkhand.
The recommendation for this division came from a committee chaired by the Central Water Commission after exhaustive deliberations. The historical Bansagar Agreement, signed in 1973 among Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and the then undivided Bihar, governs the Sone river water distribution.
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