Bihar, Jharkhand end water-sharing dispute

• Bihar and Jharkhand signed a water-sharing agreement for the Sone river in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on August 31.

• Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, and Union Minister for Jal Shakti C.R. Patil were present on the occasion.

• Shah said the agreement reached to resolve the nearly 25-year-old water dispute between Bihar and Jharkhand exemplifies that any problem can be solved through dialogue conducted with the spirit of cooperative federalism.

What was the dispute about?

• In 1973, an agreement took place among Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and undivided Bihar on the water sharing of the Sone river and the cost of the Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh. 

• A dispute started in 2000 when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar as a new state.

• Jharkhand demanded a bigger share of water in the Bansagar project as a large chunk of the catchment area came under it, while Bihar cited the 1973 agreement to claim water from the project. 

• The agreement would ensure the availability of adequate water for drinking and irrigation to a large population across the districts of Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur, Aurangabad, Arwal, Gaya, and Patna in Bihar. 

• Moreover, water would become available for irrigation and drinking purposes in the Palamu, Garhwa, and other regions of Jharkhand.

• Long-pending water disputes between various states that had been unresolved for several decades are being resolved through the Inter-State Council. Four historic agreements have been reached this year.

Other disputes solved recently:

1) An agreement regarding the settlement of outstanding payments was signed among the ‘Narmada Award’ beneficiary states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh — in the presence of Amit Shah on July 7. It provides resolution to long-standing disputes among these states concerning cost-sharing for the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project, with the outstanding dues being resolved through a one-time settlement.

2) On June 29, Rajasthan and Haryana signed an agreement regarding the construction and implementation of the Yamuna Water Project, enabling Rajasthan to effectively utilise the water allocated to it under the 1994 agreement regarding the sharing of usable surface water in the Upper Yamuna Basin. 

3) A consensus was also reached among the states concerned regarding the long-pending ‘Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project’ during a meeting chaired by Shah on June 16. Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the ‘Kishau Multipurpose Project’.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)