Chandigarh: At a time when Himachal Pradesh and Punjab are reeling from intense floods, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government has stirred the hornet’s nest on September 1, by deploying central security forces to guard the Bhakra and Nangal dams – a step which the Punjab assembly had unanimously opposed in July this year.The spokesperson of ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has termed the move dictatorial and an attack on India’s federal structure.On the other hand, Bhakra Beas Management Board, an inter-state body that administratively manages the project, stated that the deployment was aimed at strengthening the security of the damsOne of the first major water management projects of post-Independence India on the River Sutlej, the project comprises two separate but complementary dams – the Bhakra dam in Himachal Pradesh, and the Nangal dam, some 10 kilometres downstream, in Punjab.Before the division of Punjab, the Bhakra-Nangal project was under the direct control of the Punjab government. After the creation of Himachal Pradesh and later Haryana in 1966, the Bhakra Management Board was established under the Punjab Reorganisation Act to administer the project in the best interests of all member states including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Rajasthan.In 1976, this body was renamed to what it is called now – the Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB) – after it was given the additional responsibility of managing projects on the river Beas.For decades, the security of the Nangal Dam, located in Punjab, and the Bhakra Dam, situated in Himachal Pradesh, had been entrusted to the respective state police forces. That long-standing arrangement has now changed, with personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) taking direct charge of security at both dams.Confirming the development, Satam Singh, public relations officer at the BBMB, told The Wire that the CISF has taken charge of the security of both the Bhakra and Nangal dams.He added that a total of 150 CISF personnel have been deployed, while also underlining that police forces from both Punjab and Himachal remain stationed there as earlier.However, as per the Tribune report, Punjab Police personnel, posted for security at Nangal Dam, would be shifted to relatively insignificant installations of the dam at Ganguwal and Kotla power houses and Lohand Khad gates near Kiratpur Sahib.What led to the move?According to Satnam Singh, the move was taken under the dams’ safety law of 2021, which stipulates that the security of big dams be placed under control of central forces.The Act, which received President’s assent on December 13, 2021, aims to provide for the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of specified dams across the country to prevent dam failure-related disasters and establish an institutional mechanism to ensure their safe functioning.Slamming the move, Neel Garg, spokesperson of ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) told The Wire that this was an attack on India’s federal system.The Punjab government had made its resentment known to the Union government after it passed a resolution through its assembly in July, said Garg. “But the Centre did not even consider it, showing its dictatorial attitude,” he said.“Mostly importantly, what was the hurry in deployment when state was reeling under floods?” he askedGarg added that ever since BJP’s Modi government took the reins of the country, it undermined the essence of the constitution by encroaching upon the federal rights of the states, and this was yet another example.According to him, the BBMB’s claim that central security will enhance the dams’ security is also a farce. He pointed out that ever since the dams were constructed after independence, their security had remained the remit of the state security forces.There was not a single instance of security breach – not even during the peak of terrorism in Punjab, he said. “So what new threat has suddenly emerged that necessitates the presence of central security forces?” he asked.He told The Wire that the AAP government in Punjab was exploring legal options against the deployment.Before central deployment, inter-state water row On May 21, the Union government sanctioned a contingent of 296 armed CISF personnel for providing security to the Bhakra-Nangal damn.However, in the run-up to this decision, there had been a major tussle between Punjab and Haryana over sharing of the project’s water.It is pertinent to note that BBMB plays a central role in the distribution of water between all member states for irrigation, drinking and other related purposes. At the start of every year, the body determines the volume of water to be allocated to each member state.In April this year, Haryana, currently under BJP rule, sought additional water – a move AAP-ruled Punjab declined.As per a report by Indian Express dated May 3, 2025, three of BBMB’s member states – the BJP-ruled Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi – voted in favour of releasing extra water to Haryana, effectively bypassing Punjab’s opposition. Congress-ruled Himachal decided not to vote.The stand-off then turned into full scale drama on May 8, 2025, with AAP workers led by Cabinet minister Harjot Bains staging a dharna at the approach road to the dam, stopping BBMB from releasing water to Haryana, and later ‘locking’ the BBMB chairman up at the board’s resthouse. Tripathi was later ‘rescued’ in a police vehicle and moved out. Before this move, the BBMB had even knocked doors of Punjab and Haryana high court, pleading against the ‘illegal takeover’ of the Nangal dam by the Punjab forces.On the very day that the AAP in Punjab organised a fateh (victory) rally over its decision to not let extra water to flow to Haryana, the Union government took the decision to deploy central forces at the dam.AAP spokesperson Neel Garg told The Wire that for several years, Haryana had been withdrawing an additional quota from the BBMB project, as earlier governments in Punjab had failed to fully utilise their share due to the poor functioning of the state’s canal system.However, he claimed that in the last three and a half years of the AAP government, the functioning of canals has improved tremendously, thereby increasing river water consumption. “That is why Haryana can’t be allowed to draw more than its allotted quota,” he addedBut deployment of central security forces has led to opposition parties in Punjab targeting the ruling AAP.Daljeet Cheema, senior leader of Shiromani Akali Dal, told The Wire that had the AAP leadership not “created drama” by locking the BBMB chairman in his office in May this year, this situation might not have worsened.He added, “Why are AAP leaders not protesting against the move now? Why is the Punjab chief minister not stopping the CISF deployment?”