In wake of the Uttar Pradesh government’s persistent demand to release water from the <g data-gr-id="18">Bansagar</g> Dam, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti has directed her ministry officials to call a meeting of <g data-gr-id="19">Bansagar</g> Control Board (BCB) soon. The initiative is being seen as an attempt to “resolve” the ongoing water dispute between UP and Madhya Pradesh.
It’s worth mentioning that the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) government in UP, in a recent communication to the Central Water Commission (CWC) chairman, has requested that suitable directions may be issued to the Madhya Pradesh government to release 2,000 cusecs of water from the <g data-gr-id="25">Bansagar</g> Dam into the Sone river for two months. Citing the <g data-gr-id="26">Bansagar</g> Agreement 1973, the UP government has sought the release of water against its one million <g data-gr-id="27">acre feet</g> due from the dam.
In its communication, the UP government has said that due to severe hot weather and scarcity of rain, an acute crisis of drinking and irrigation water has arisen in Sonbhadra and Mirzapur districts. Local <g data-gr-id="23">bandhis</g> and ponds have dried up and the level of <g data-gr-id="20">water</g> table has reduced alarmingly. The Sone pump canal, too, is not functioning as the river does not have the minimum water level (164.612M) required to run the pump.
Notably, the Madhya Pradesh government, headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has refused to release the desired amount of water on the ground that Uttar Pradesh has not agreed to share the operation and maintenance expenses of the dam. However, the UP government has refuted this claim of the Chouhan government.