Meera Bhardwaj:
With illegalities and controversies racking HMT forest estate case, two senior IFS officers at the APCCF level are likely to face suspension and departmental inquiry. Last year, notices had been sent to three senior IFS officers and one IAS officer, out of which two officers have retired. The necessary action as per government rules should be initiated against the two retired (one IAS & another IFS) officers, Karnataka Forest, Ecology & Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre has written to the chief minister in this regard.
According to government sources, the state forest minister has recommended to the Chief Minister the suspension of R Gokul, APCCF (NFAP & BM) followed by a departmental inquiry against him and further, a departmental inquiry against Smitha Bijjur, APCCF (Publicity & ICT). Both are senior level Indian Forest Services officers working in the Karnataka Forest Department.
It may be recollected; in 2020, supporting the HMT, these senior forest officers had applied for denotification in the aftermath of submission of a report claiming that the above land had lost its forest status. Shockingly, these officials had filed an IA in the Supreme Court without prior approval from the state cabinet or the minister concerned. Now the state govt has filed for withdrawal of the IA in the Supreme Court but the matter is still pending.
Further, in 2015, a High-Level Committee was set up to look into the matter of how many state and central govt companies were holding forest lands and their status in Bengaluru. In 2018, a meeting held observed that HMT was still in possession of 599 acres and the forest land was being auctioned and sold off illegally to builders, private & state-owned companies. Also, 165 acres out of 599 was illegally sold off by HMT for Rs 313 crore to private developers, builders & govt institutions. In a petition before SC, the land was worth Rs 14,300 crores, the PSU had informed.
Now how such huge patches of forest lands were sold without denotification is a mystery? In a meeting held on 15.7.2020, under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, the forest department had been instructed to take the Advocate-General’s opinion on allocation of land to various govt organizations prior to 1980. The forest department was asked to submit a proposal for denotification of such forest lands for approval before the state cabinet. But this was never done. Even before the proposal was placed before the state cabinet, an IA was filed by forest officials before the Supreme Court for denotification of 599 acres of forest land.
Local activists further add, “The HMT company in collusion with forest officers had been leasing and selling this forest land for carrying out all types of building and commercial activities and had even given this land for film shooting activities. The most shocking thing is many big apartments, shopping complexes like Prestige Wellington Park, etc have come up in HMT Forest Estate and forest officers had purchased apartments in these prestigious apartment complexes.”
The verdant and lush HMT forest estate is located in Survey No: 1 & 2 of Peenya-Jalahalli area in Bengaluru north. On 11.6.1896, this area was declared as “forest land” as per gazette notification. This forest land was given to the PSU company Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) by way of grant through donation.
Earlier last September, the forest minister had stated that unauthorized activities had been going on in the forest land that was granted to HMT in 1960s. The PSU’s illegal activities should be investigated so as to protect the nature of the land, the Minister had stressed. Further, Eshwar Khandre cited the Supreme Court order which clearly states, “Once a forest is always a forest unless it is de-notified.”
It is high time the 599 acres of forest land which was granted to HMT is taken back by the state government and converted back to a reserve forest which can provide the much-needed lung space for people living in the northern parts of Bengaluru, activists stress.