PATNA: The nearly two-and-a-half-decade-long dispute between Bihar and Jharkhand over the distribution of the water of Sone River has come to an end.
The Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday approved the draft of an agreement in a meeting chaired by CM Nitish Kumar. The agreement will be signed by the chief secretaries of both Bihar and Jharkhand soon.
The Bihar government has also given formal information to the Central government in this regard. As per the agreement, Bihar will receive 5.75 million-acre feet (MAF) of water while Jharkhand will get 2 MAF from the total 7.75 MAF allotted to undivided Bihar under the Bansagar Accord of 1973 between the two states and Madhya Pradesh.
The breakthrough in the matter came during the meeting between both sides at the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) chaired by union home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand’s Ranchi on July 10 last year.
“The Cabinet has approved the draft of the agreement issued by the Central Water Commission as it will pave the way for the construction of the Indrapuri reservoir,” state cabinet secretariat department’s additional chief secretary Arvind Kumar Chaudhary said.
The Bansagar dam is on the Sone river in MP’s Shahdol.