The deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has come under fresh controversy following the use of CISF personnel during an anti-encroachment drive carried out by the board in Nangal on Monday.Punjab Education and Local Government Minister Harjot Singh Bains has strongly objected to the presence of CISF personnel in the town’s civil areas. “Their mandate is restricted to protecting BBMB’s critical installations and that they cannot exercise powers belonging to the Punjab Police in civilian areas,” Bains said.Talking to The Tribune, Bains said the action by CISF personnel in Nangal was illegal.  The CISF had no jurisdiction in the civil areas of Punjab, he said. The force had been deployed for the security of the Bhakra Dam and should restrict itself to that responsibility, he said.“If BBMB wants to carry out an anti-encroachment drive, it should inform the local administration and the local police,” he said. He said that CISF personnel had been cautioned against entering the jurisdiction of the Punjab Police and that a case would be registered against them if they interfered in civil matters of Punjab in future.The controversy erupted after BBMB officials, accompanied by CISF personnel, demolished a portion of a private house in Nangal on Monday, claiming that the structure had encroached upon BBMB land. The demolition has triggered strong reactions among political leaders in the region, with some alleging that BBMB’s action was selective and targeted.The latest confrontation has also brought renewed focus on the contentious decision to deploy CISF at BBMB installations. The Punjab Government had initially given its consent to the deployment in 2021. However, the present state government subsequently withdrew that consent at a full BBMB meeting held on July 4.Despite Punjab withdrawing its consent, BBMB deposited Rs 8.5 crore with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on July 25, 2025 towards charges for CISF deployment and the force was deployed in BBMB in August 2025.The deployment has significant financial implications for the BBMB and its partner states. Sources had estimated the annual expenditure on the CISF contingent at more than Rs 100 crore, nearly three times the existing expenditure on the deployment of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh Police personnel.The Nangal incident has now raised a separate dispute over the operational jurisdiction of the CISF. While the BBMB maintains that security of its installations requires a dedicated central force, the Punjab government has objected to CISF personnel being used in civilian areas for activities such as anti-encroachment operations.The dispute assumes significance as BBMB has indicated that CISF deployment could eventually be extended beyond the Bhakra Dam to other board installations, including the Nangal Dam.The latest confrontation has raised issues on the limits of its operational role of the CISF in areas falling within Punjab’s civil and police jurisdiction. The Nangal demolition has brought that long-standing Punjab BBMB dispute into a fresh phase, with the state government now warning of legal action if CISF personnel again intervene in civil matters.