Archive · 1 Sep 2026
Bihar, Jharkhand Sign Deal Ending 25-Year Sone Water Dispute
Bihar and Jharkhand have argued for 25 years about how to share water from the Sone River.
They signed an agreement in New Delhi to settle the dispute.
Bihar will receive 5.75 million acre-feet of water.
Jharkhand will receive 2 million acre-feet.
The agreement may help both states build irrigation and water-storage projects.
It may also support river-linking projects.
The disagreement started when Jharkhand became a separate state from Bihar in 2000.
Before that, a 1973 agreement had given undivided Bihar 7.75 million acre-feet, but it did not explain how the water should be divided afterward.
Bihar and Jharkhand signed an inter-state MoU in Delhi to resolve their 25-year Sone water-sharing dispute.
The agreement allocates 5.75 million acre-feet of Sone water to Bihar and 2 MAF to Jharkhand.
The deal is expected to support delayed irrigation, reservoir and river-linking projects in drought-prone areas.
The dispute began after Jharkhand was created from Bihar in November 2000.
The 1973 Bansagar Agreement allocated undivided Bihar 7.75 MAF, but did not specify how the amount would be divided after reorganisation.
- Who
- The governments of Bihar and Jharkhand, represented by Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Hemant Soren, signed the agreement, with Union ministers Amit Shah and CR Paatil present.
- What
- They signed an inter-state MoU dividing Sone River water between Bihar and Jharkhand.
- When
- Monday; the dispute dates back to November 2000.
- Where
- New Delhi, India.
- Why
- To resolve the long-running water-sharing dispute and enable delayed irrigation, reservoir and river-linking projects.
- Agreement
- Inter-state Memorandum of Understanding
- Bihar allocation
- 5.75 million acre-feet of Sone water
- Jharkhand allocation
- 2 million acre-feet of Sone water
- Dispute duration
- 25 years
- State formation
- Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in November 2000
- Earlier agreement
- The 1973 Bansagar Agreement allocated undivided Bihar 7.75 million acre-feet
- Expected impact
- Support for irrigation, reservoir and river-linking projects in drought-prone regions