With the Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ruling out collaboration with Haryana to restrict Ravi water flowing to Pakistan, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said there is no confrontation between the two states over the issue.

Haryana CM said he had written to Punjab government for joining hands in order to check the wasteful flow off Ravi waters to Pakistan keeping in view the unprecedented water crisis that looms large before both the states.

But Punjab CM had on Monday turned down the request and ruled out “separate interaction” between the two states over proposed 2nd Ravi-Beas Link. In fact, Amarinder had reminded Khattar that 50 percent of Yamuna (which flows through Haryana) river water also goes waste which should be checked in order to solve the water problem in the neighboring state.

Responding to this at a Press conference, CM Khattar said he had made the proposal for checking flow of water to Pakistan as per a suggestion given by the Central Water Commission in 2013.

“The water commission had said that some system needs to be adopted by the concerned states in order to restrict Ravi water flowing to Pakistan. But as the Punjab CM has conveyed that this is not feasible, we will decide our next course of action in matter and see if we should go the Centre or the Water Commission in matter,” he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab CM Amarinder on Wednesday again ruled out sharing river water with other states.

During his interaction at a conclave in Chandigarh, the Punjab CM said though the division of resources between Punjab and Haryana was in 60:40 ratio, the entire Yamuna river water went to Haryana, which also got additional water from the Sharda Link along with 40 percent of the Beas-Ravi-Satluj water.

Once the issue of the quantum of water is decided, only then can the matter of Satluj Yamuna Link canal construction be sorted out, said Amarinder.

The Punjab CM reiterated his stand on water sharing, saying Punjab did not have sufficient water to share with other states, given the criticality of the groundwater levels.

Amarinder Singh described the declining water levels and the cropping pattern in the state as critical issues, and added that with groundwater down in most areas, Punjab’s was grappling with a major water crisis.