Patna,(BiharTimes): Bihar on Friday demanded one million acre foot (MAF) of Sone water from the share of Uttar Pradesh for keeping the flow of Sone water steady in this lower riparian state.

The demand was made at the meeting of the tribunal for the sharing of Sone water from Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh.

The state government representatives said at the meeting that there has been shortage in the supply of water in the Sone in Bihar because UP has been making unauthorized use of its water from Rihand basin for its thermal power plant.  The tribunal had been set up by the Union ministry of water resources sometimes back on the plea of the Bihar government. The tribunal held its second meet on Friday. 

Representatives of the Union ministry of water resources, Central Water Commission, Ganga Flood Control Commission as well as of Bihar, UP and Chhattisgarh governments were among those who participated in the meeting. 

Bihar was represented by its engineer-in-chief (central) Ram Kumar and chief engineer Indu Bhushan Kumar, while no representatives of MP and Jharkhand participated in the meet. As it is, the total share of Bihar from Bansagar dam on Sone in MP is 7.75 MAF.

It needs to be mentioned that though UP has no share of water in the Rihand sub-basin, it has been using its water for its thermal power plant. 

Bihar has also appealed to the Centre to construct a new dam near Kadwan.