NEW delhi, Sept. 1 -- Twenty-six years after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, birthing an over two decade long water dispute, the two states signed an agreement Monday formalising the sharing of Sone river waters. The agreement allocates 5.75 million acre-feet (MAF) of Sone water to Bihar and 2 MAF to Jharkhand, from the 7.75 MAF originally allocated to the erstwhile undivided Bihar. The MoU, as per a government release, was signed in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary and Union jal shakti minister C R Patil. "All details had already been finalised. Chief ministers of both states are coming to sign the pact Monday," HT had reported citing a senior official of the ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity. The agreement settles the division of the erstwhile undivided Bihar's allocation under the 1973 Bansagar Agreement. The Bansagar Agreement, signed in 1973 between Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and the then undivided Bihar, governs the sharing of Sone river waters. While the agreement continued after Jharkhand was carved out in November 2000, the division of Bihar's share between the two successor states had remained unresolved for over 25 years. The 5.75 MAF allocation to Bihar and 2 MAF to Jharkhand follows the unanimous recommendation of a committee constituted by the Centre under the chairmanship of the Central Water Commission to resolve the long-pending issue. The Union government said the agreement will provide irrigation water to lakhs of farmers across rural areas of both states, while also ensuring drinking water supplies. Shah said the agreement would ensure adequate water for drinking and irrigation across Bihar's Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur, Aurangabad, Arwal, Gaya and Patna districts. In Jharkhand, water would be available for irrigation and drinking purposes in Palamu, Garhwa and other regions, he said. Shah described the agreement as an example of cooperative federalism and said it demonstrated that long-pending inter-state water disputes could be resolved through dialogue....