Polity and Governance › Federalism
हिन्दी — Read in HindiInterstate relations, councils, border and water disputes
The States among themselves: the councils where they meet, their border and water disputes, and the reorganisation of States under Articles 3 and 4.
Showing 1 of 9 articles, those that changed from 1 to 30 September 2026.Show all
The Sone agreement
Copy link to The Sone agreementPrelims and Mains
The Sone agreement divides the water of the Sone, a right bank tributary that rises near Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and joins the Ganga near Patna.
- Its water was first divided under the Bansagar Agreement of 1973 between Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and undivided Bihar.
Two routes to settle a river
- Article 262 of the Constitution lets Parliament provide by law for deciding disputes over interstate river waters, and keep the courts out of them.
- The Inter State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 is that law, under which the Centre constitutes a tribunal when a State asks.
- The other route is a negotiated agreement, which binds the States without any tribunal at all.
- Which route they take decides how long the water stays unshared.
What changed
1 Sep 2026
- Bihar and Jharkhand signed a memorandum of understanding dividing the Sone's water, ending a dispute open since Jharkhand was carved out in 2000.
- Bihar takes 5.75 million acre feet and Jharkhand 2, from the 7.75 that undivided Bihar held under the Bansagar Agreement.