Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre’s efforts to prevent the Centre from selling 160 acres of forest land belonging to the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) received praise from AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala.
The state government intends to transform the parcel of land into a biodiversity park along the lines of Lalbagh. Following his meeting with Surjewala, Khandre said, “I spoke to Surjewala about the Centre’s plans to sell the forest land to private companies. He opined that this showed that the Centre was not serious about protecting the environment.”
“The state government wants to protect the land, and build a biodiversity park, but the BJP and JD(S) are looking to use this land for real estate. Why are the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government, and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy opposed to creating green spaces in Bengaluru. Are real estate profits more important to them than the city’s greenery,” wrote Surjewala on ‘X’.
Although the forest land was allotted to HMT in the 1960s, the factory had ceased operations 15 years ago, Khandre pointed out.
“Why hasn’t the land been returned to the state for the benefit of the public? Had the state government not intervened last August, all the 280 acres would have been sold to private entities. This land is an important lungspace for North Bengaluru, and must be protected,” said the Forest Minister, adding that the land belonged to all the people of Karnataka.
However, JD(S) Youth Wing president and Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil took to ‘X’ to question Surjewala’s role in the state government.
“The elected chief minister has effectively given Surjewala the General Power of Attorney to run the government, and he is effectively running the state. In fact, Congress MLAs are looking to Surjewala to
develop their respective constituencies,” said Nikhil, also taking a swipe at Surjewala’s meetings with Karnataka MLAs.