Patna: Observing that water of Sone river
was crucial for the economic survival of the people in some
districts, senior BJP leader Saryu Rai today appealed to
all political parties to fight unitedly to ensure regular
release of the river water to the state by Uttar Pradesh.
A day after the Patna High Court issued notices to
U.P., Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand on a PIL filed
by him for its direction for release of the Sone river water
due to Bihar, he said that all political parties in the state
should speak in an united voice for release of its share of
river water from Uttar Pradesh on a regular basis.
The Sone water has been important for irrigation of
farmland in the districts like Rohtas, Bhojpur and Patna
districts but due to the Uttar Pradesh government`s decision
to allow the public sector power producer NTPC to use the
river water for its Singrauli thermal plant has created a
spectre of drought in these districts, Rai said.
Alleging that the U.P. government has diverted
Bihar`s share of the Sone river water to the NTPC from Rihand
dam located in Sonebhadra district to create a water crisis in
districts along its tributory in the bordering state, the BJP
leader said that the political parties should seek a lasting
solution to the water conflict between the two states.
Rai said that he has decided to take out a march from
Amar Kantak in Madhya Pradesh (the source of Sone river) to
the areas along its course in the states like MP, UP and
Bihar from August 26 next to create an awareness among the
people about the usefulness of the river for the
socio-economic survival of the people.
Rai had filed the PIL in Patna High Court in 1993 with
a plea to direct all shareholders to share the Sone river
water in an equitable manner as per the guidelines of the
National Water Policy.
PTI
