AMRITSAR: Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday raised the issue of shortage of canal water in the state’s border belt before the Ravi-Beas Water Tribunal (RBWT), which visited Amritsar and Ferozepur to assess the availability and distribution of river waters among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday raised the issue of shortage of canal water in the state’s border belt before the Ravi-Beas Water Tribunal.The three-member Tribunal, headed by justice Vineet Saran (retd) along with members justice Suman Shyam (retd) and justice P Naveen Rao (retd), visited Harike headworks — the confluence point of the Sutlej and Beas rivers — from where water is supplied to Rajasthan through a canal network.According to people aware of the matter, Mann apprised the Tribunal about the shortage of canal water being faced by several border areas of Punjab and reiterated the state’s stand on the river-water sharing dispute. The Tribunal members also visited Ferozepur, where Punjab officials highlighted the issue of polluted water allegedly flowing into the Sutlej from leather industries located in Kasur district of Pakistan.The CM and Tribunal members later held a meeting during which the Punjab government presented its case regarding the availability of river waters in the state. However, details of the discussions were not officially disclosed.The Ravi-Beas Water Tribunal was constituted under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act to adjudicate disputes over sharing of Ravi and Beas river waters among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The dispute dates back to the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, after Haryana was carved out of the state.The conflict primarily centres around allocation of surplus waters and construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal meant to carry water from Punjab to Haryana. Punjab has consistently maintained that it does not have surplus water to share, citing declining groundwater levels, increasing irrigation needs and reduced river flows. Haryana, on the other hand, has been demanding its allocated share of water and completion of the SYL Canal.