Karnataka Minister Khandre rejects Kumaraswamy’s charges on HMT forest land

Bidar (Karnataka), Jul 7 (PTI) Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre on Tuesday rejected Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy's allegations over HMT forest land, alleging that the Central government-owned company had illegally sold unconverted forest land to real estate firms. Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Khandre, who until recently also held the Forest portfolio in the Siddaramaiah-led government, said the forest department had ordered removal of encroachments on the HMT land, and ruled out any real estate activity there. Responding to questions from reporters about Kumaraswamy's allegation that the forest department had encroached on HMT land and that the state government was attempting to facilitate real estate activity, Khandre said it was HMT—not the forest department—that had encroached on land that had never been legally converted from forest use. He questioned how real estate development could be possible once the land was restored as forest under Section 64A of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963. Khandre claimed that some officials had filed an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court seeking de-notification of forest land under HMT's possession without the approval of the high-level committee headed by the chief secretary, the forest minister or the state cabinet. "Those officials were suspended and served show-cause notices. The cabinet has also approved the withdrawal of the interlocutory application, and the matter has been taken before the Supreme Court," he said. The minister said the Supreme Court had ruled that any forest land not converted before the implementation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, would continue to remain forest land. "Therefore, the HMT land in question will continue to be treated as forest land," he said. Referring to Kumaraswamy's claim that the HMT land contained only buildings and no forest, Khandre said he had personally visited the area along with officials and had been welcomed by HMT officials with a bouquet. "Even then, Kumaraswamy had alleged that I had trespassed into HMT premises. If HMT officials themselves welcomed me and escorted me, how can it be called trespassing?" he asked. Khandre said around 280 acres of the land under HMT's possession still had tree cover resembling a forest. He added that abandoned buildings nearby were being used for film and television shoots. He alleged that HMT had been illegally using forest land for commercial purposes and had sold 165 acres for just Rs 300 crore. He challenged Kumaraswamy to visit the site and verify the facts. Khandre claimed that the forest land under HMT's possession belonged to the seven crore people of Karnataka and served as a vital green lung for Bengaluru. "The government's vision is to develop a massive 444-acre biodiversity park, larger than Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, and this has already been publicly announced. Therefore, Kumaraswamy's allegations of a real estate conspiracy are baseless," he said. According to Khandre, if Kumaraswamy was "genuinely concerned" about Karnataka, he should help establish major industries in the backward Kalyana Karnataka region to generate employment. He urged Kumaraswamy to first revive the proposed NMDC steel plant in Ballari district and the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant in Bhadravati, both of which come under the Union Steel Ministry. Khandre said that, in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, Hindustan Machine Tools itself had valued the forest land in Bengaluru at around Rs 14,000 crore. "Those who had their eyes on this valuable land can decide for themselves who was really interested in it," he remarked. Questioning who had acquired valuable forest land in Bengaluru for the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, Khandre said that during his tenure as forest minister, he had reclaimed forest land in Bengaluru worth nearly Rs 10,000 crore from encroachment and undertaken afforestation. He also said that 5,678 acres around the Hessaraghatta lake region had been declared the Greater Hessaraghatta Protected Grassland to prevent the land from falling into the hands of real estate developers. PTI AMP SSK