UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Jharkhand, Bihar sign pact on Sone water sharing

Q1. The 'Bansagar Agreement' referred to in the context of river water apportionment in India denotes which one of the following?

  • A. A 1973 accord among Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar apportioning the waters of the Sone basin, including storage created in the Sone valley
  • B. A 1973 accord between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra apportioning the waters of the Narmada basin and the power benefits of a joint storage project
  • C. A 1956 accord among the Ganga basin States constituting a statutory River Board for the Sone valley with powers to regulate withdrawals
  • D. A 1994 memorandum among the basin States allocating utilisable surface flows of the Upper Yamuna and providing for a joint monitoring body

Q2. Under the Bansagar Agreement of 1973, which one of the following States received the second-largest allocation of Sone waters?

  • A. Bihar, then undivided, whose entitlement was drawn partly from the storage of the Bansagar Dam
  • B. Uttar Pradesh, whose entitlement included a component drawn from the river Kanhar
  • C. Madhya Pradesh, whose entitlement combined upstream, downstream and dam-storage components
  • D. Odisha, whose entitlement was drawn from the lower reaches of the Sone basin

Q3. The Sone is a tributary of the Ganga. At the Union level, basin development and regulation of such Ganga tributaries is the charge of which one of the following?

  • A. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, which handles surface water regulation and river basin development
  • B. The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti
  • C. The Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development, which handles river valley works and basin development
  • D. The Department of Rural Development under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, which handles irrigation command area development

Q4. Which one of the following tributaries of the Sone has been dammed to create a large reservoir supplying hydroelectric power?

  • A. The Kanhar, from which a share of the Sone basin waters was assigned to a basin State in 1973
  • B. The Gopad, which drains the northern slopes of the Sone valley in Madhya Pradesh
  • C. The North Koel, which drains the Chota Nagpur plateau on the southern flank of the Sone
  • D. The Rihand, which drains the northern flank of the Sone valley

Q5. Under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, how is a Water Disputes Tribunal brought into existence and constituted?

  • A. By the Central Government, within one year of a State's request, with a Chairman and two members nominated by the Chief Justice of India from among sitting Judges of the Supreme Court
  • B. By the Central Government, on the recommendation of the Inter-State Council, with a Chairman and two members nominated by the President from among Judges of the High Courts
  • C. By the Chief Justice of India, on a reference made by the Central Government, with a Chairman and two members drawn from among retired Judges of the High Courts concerned
  • D. By the Supreme Court, on a petition filed by any riparian State, with a Chairman and two members nominated by the Union Minister of Jal Shakti

Q6. Which one of the following statements correctly describes the scheme of Article 262 of the Constitution of India?

  • A. It vests the Union exclusively with legislative competence over water in every form, including water supply, irrigation and canals, in all the States
  • B. It requires that every dispute over an inter-State river be referred to a tribunal whose award is final and incapable of being altered by Parliament
  • C. It enables Parliament to provide by law for the adjudication of disputes relating to the waters of inter-State rivers and to bar the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court or any other court in respect of such disputes
  • D. It obliges the President to constitute a permanent River Board for each inter-State river before any dispute regarding that river may be entertained

Q7. In a Zonal Council, who holds the office of Vice-Chairman?

  • A. The Governor of the State in which the Council's meeting is convened, for the duration of that meeting
  • B. The Chief Minister of one of the member States of that zone, by rotation, each holding office for one year
  • C. The senior-most Chief Minister among the member States of that zone, reckoned by continuous length of tenure in office
  • D. The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, who is nominated to the office by the Union Home Minister

Q8. Consider the following statements comparing the Zonal Councils with the North Eastern Council: 1. The five Zonal Councils were established under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, whereas the North Eastern Council was set up under a separate Act of Parliament of 1971. 2. A Zonal Council is an advisory body, and its advice on a matter of common interest is binding on the Union and on every member State represented in it. 3. The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of the five Zonal Councils. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The five Zonal Councils were established under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, whereas the North Eastern Council was set up under a separate Act of Parliament of 1971.
  2. A Zonal Council is an advisory body, and its advice on a matter of common interest is binding on the Union and on every member State represented in it.
  3. The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of the five Zonal Councils.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q9. In the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Bihar and Jharkhand on the Sone, the quantum of 7.75 MAF that was divided between the two States denotes which one of the following?

  • A. The total quantum of Sone waters apportioned among the basin States by the tri-State agreement of 1973
  • B. The quantum that the tri-State agreement of 1973 had allotted to the then undivided State of Bihar
  • C. The quantum assessed as additionally available in the Sone basin after the reorganisation of Bihar in the year 2000
  • D. The quantum that the tri-State agreement of 1973 had allotted to the upper riparian State of Madhya Pradesh

Q10. The consensus underlying the Bihar–Jharkhand Sone apportionment was built in a forum whose secretariat functions under the administrative control of which one of the following?

  • A. The Ministry of Jal Shakti, which services the inter-State bodies dealing with river basin development
  • B. NITI Aayog, which services the inter-governmental bodies dealing with Centre-State coordination
  • C. The Ministry of Home Affairs, under which a single secretariat for all such Councils functions from New Delhi
  • D. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, which services the bodies dealing with regional and rural development coordination

Q11. Under which one of the following was the Cauvery Water Management Authority brought into existence?

  • A. A direct order of the Supreme Court, which itself constituted the Authority while modifying the tribunal's award on the Cauvery
  • B. The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Act, which created standing authorities to implement the awards of river water tribunals
  • C. The River Boards Act, 1956, under which the Central Government constituted a board for regulation of the Cauvery basin
  • D. A scheme notified by the Central Government in 2018 to give effect to the tribunal's decision as modified by the Supreme Court

Q12. Consider the following statements regarding recent inter-State water arrangements brokered at the Union level: 1. The Rajasthan–Haryana agreement of June 2026 provides for conveying Rajasthan's share of Yamuna waters through underground pipelines from the Western Yamuna Canal, that share deriving from the 1994 Memorandum of Understanding on the Upper Yamuna Basin. 2. Unlike the Yamuna arrangement, the Bihar–Jharkhand Memorandum of Understanding on the Sone created an entirely new allocation, wholly independent of any pre-existing inter-State agreement. 3. The consensus reached on the Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project involves six States, namely Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Rajasthan–Haryana agreement of June 2026 provides for conveying Rajasthan's share of Yamuna waters through underground pipelines from the Western Yamuna Canal, that share deriving from the 1994 Memorandum of Understanding on the Upper Yamuna Basin.
  2. Unlike the Yamuna arrangement, the Bihar–Jharkhand Memorandum of Understanding on the Sone created an entirely new allocation, wholly independent of any pre-existing inter-State agreement.
  3. The consensus reached on the Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project involves six States, namely Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3