'Will not pay for CISF at Bhakra': Pb revives row

The Punjab assembly on Friday passed a resolution against the deployment of CISF personnel at the Bhakra Nangal dam, saying that the state police has been duly protecting the installations for the last 70 years, and refused to bear the financial costs arising from such deployment.

- Navneet Sharma

The resolution, moved by water resources minister Barinder Kumar Goyal during the special session of the state assembly, was passed amid heated exchanges between treasury benches and the opposition Congress. As per the resolution, Punjab has reexamined the issue of deployment of CISF and had already conveyed to the BBMB on May 27 and July 4, expressing its strong reservations against the deployment of CISF.

In May, the Centre had sanctioned a contingent of 296 armed CISF personnel for providing a counter-terrorist security cover to the Nangal dam in Punjab amid the standoff between Punjab and Haryana over the sharing of water from the dam. But the AAP government in Punjab opposed any move to deploy the CISF at the dams in the state.