Bihar and Jharkhand Sign Agreement to Share Sone River Water

Bihar and Jharkhand signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday to resolve a long standing dispute over the sharing of Sone river water. The agreement was signed by Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil. Under the new consensus, 5.75 million acre feet of water will be allocated to Bihar and 2 million acre feet to Jharkhand. This resolves a 25 year dispute regarding the 7.75 million acre feet originally allocated to undivided Bihar under a 1973 agreement. Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the pact is an example of the Team Bharat vision and cooperative federalism championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He noted that this is the fourth inter state water agreement reached this year. The agreement is expected to provide drinking and irrigation water to several districts, including Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur, Aurangabad, Arwal, Gaya, and Patna in Bihar, as well as Palamu and Garhwa in Jharkhand. Chief Minister Choudhary added that the resolution will allow for the expansion of irrigation and the linking of the Sone river with the Falgu river, which will facilitate rituals for pilgrims during the Pitru Paksha fair.