Bihar, Jharkhand sign Sone water-sharing pact

Bihar and Jharkhand on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to share 7.75 million acre-feet of water from the Sone River, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, "permanently resolving" the nearly 25-year-old water dispute between the two states, officials said. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Union Minister for Jal Shakti C R Patil, the deputy chief minister of Bihar, the Union home secretary, and senior officials from the central government and the two states were present at the signing ceremony.
In a post on X,  Shah said the agreement had resolved a long-awaited water dispute in eastern India and would provide irrigation water to lakhs of farmers in large rural areas of Bihar and Jharkhand, besides meeting the drinking water needs of the people. He described the agreement on sharing the Sone River’s waters as an example of the ‘Team Bharat’ vision and cooperative federalism championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said a press release from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
According to Shah, the agreement would ensure adequate water for drinking and irrigation across Bihar’s Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur, Aurangabad, Arwal, Gaya and Patna districts. In Jharkhand, the agreement would facilitate the availability of water for irrigation and drinking purposes in Palamu, Garhwa and other regions, he said.