Forest department takes possession of 5 acres of HMT land

Bengaluru: Forest officials on Friday took possession of five acres of land under the custody of the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT).

A statement from the Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said a huge park would be developed on the land.

The officials of the Forest Department went with an earthmover and recovered five acres of vacant land and “asserted their claim by planting a board of the Karnataka Forest Department there”, the statement said.

It said that the HMT had sold more than 165 acres of forest land under its possession for a mere Rs 300 crore to various private and government agencies.

The land has suddenly got prominence ever since Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy said he would revive the HMT and bring back its glory.

Khandre has claimed that a total of 599 acres of land belongs to the forest department and he would get it back.