Jharkhand High Court on Monday ordered the Union government to file a response in a PIL filed by Godda MP Nishikant Dubey on water sharing issue between Jharkhand and West Bengal governments from the Massanjore Dam in Dumka.
The high court has also issued notices to the government of West Bengal in the matter.
The court of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen were hearing a public interest litigation here today filed by Dubey.
Dubey in his petition has taken up the cause of poor irrigational facilities in the Santhal Parganas region saying this could be addressed by sharing water from the dam.
The parliamentarian also highlighted the division of hydro electricity which if shared with Jharkhand will help the state address its electricty issues.
A major chunk of Santhal Pargana will be benefitted with the sharing of power and water from the Massanjore Dam, Dubey has mentioned in his petition.
The case will again be heard on April 24.
The Massanjore Dam spread over an area of 17,000 acres in Dumka is in control of the government of West Bengal.
The water and power generated from the dam is mostly utilised by the West Bengal government.
The state government has staked its claim over the dam contending that the dam is in Dumka and its benefits should be reaped by Jharkhand.
Jharkhand receives water from the dam to irrigate 18,000 acres of land while 5.60 lakh acres of land is irrigated in West Bengal by water from the dam.
Earlier, there was a mutual agreement between West Bengal and erstwhile Bihar on the water sharing ratio from the dam, However, the agreement could never be implemented and the dispute continued over the years.
The Massanjore dam, across the Mayurakshi river, was commissioned in 1955.
The reservoir has an area of 67.4sqkm (16,650 acres) when full and has a storage capacity of 620,000,000 cubic metres.
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