Ranchi, (Samajweekly) The dispute over the ownership of Massanjore Dam located in Jharkhand’s Dumka has now reached the Jharkhand High court.
Hearing a PIL filed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday, a bench headed by Chief Justic Sanjay Kumar Mishra issued a notice to the West Bengal government, directing it to file a reply. The next hearing in the matter will take place after three weeks.
Dubey had filed a PIL in the high court demanding full ownership of the dam for Jharkhand.
The Bengal government controls the hydroelectric project running from the dam, which was built in 1955.
Appearing for the applicant, advocate Diwakar Upadhyay said the dam is built on Mayurakshi river which is in Jharkhand, but its water is being used by West Bengal for irrigation and electricity generation purposes.
He said the people of Dumka and surrounding areas do not have access to its water, neither for irrigation nor for electricity.
Upadhyay stated that 2 MW of electricity is being produced by the West Bengal government from the Massanjore Dam.
He added that the entire control of the dam should be handed over to Jharkhand since the dam was built by displacing the people of the state.
In 1978, an agreement stated that water from the dam would be provided for irrigation purposes in Dumka and other districts of the state, which was not upheld, Upadhyay said.
Advocate Prashant Pallav appeared on behalf of the Central government in the case.
