Environment Minister B. Eshwar Khandre on Monday hit out at Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy for alleging that the Congress government in Karnataka was plotting to close down Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL) out of political vendetta.
Mr. Khandre said that Mr. Kumaraswamy was falsely accusing the Karnataka government of such things to cover up KIOCL’s wrongdoings, which include causing irreparable environmental damage and not paying the dues worth ₹1,400 crore to the Forest Department for damage to the environment when it undertook mining in Kudremukh area.
He said that KIOCL illegally raised the height of the Lakya reservoir leading to submersion of forest land and KIOCL is liable to pay ₹1,349.52948 crore, including interest, and also return 1,334.33 hectares of land to the Forest Department.
“Reports by the Central Empowered Committee, and the third report issued by the Public Accounts Committee of the 13th Legislative Assembly have clearly highlighted the environmental damage caused by KIOCL. The company violated regulations by using forest land for non-forestry purposes. Is demanding compensation for environmental damage political vendetta?” asked Mr. Khandre.
He also asked why Mr. Kumaraswamy was not showing interest in starting the steel plant at Veniveerapura near Ballari for which in 2014, the National Mineral Development Corporation under the Union Ministry of Steel was allocated 2,857.54 acres of land.
On the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) land issue, he said there were doubts over approval of forest land to HMT and the survey numbers and approval date were missing in the documents submitted by HMT. “Additionally, there is no gazette notification or Government Order approving the 443 acres of land for non-forest use. Despite this, HMT was illegally selling forest land to private builders and companies,” Mr. Khandre said.
Published – February 03, 2025 08:13 pm IST
