Actor Yash's Toxic And Forest Violations: The Controversy Explained (image-X/TheNameIsYash)
Bengaluru, Karnataka: Kannada actor Yash’s upcoming action thriller Toxic has been making headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. A controversy has erupted involving the film’s production, the Karnataka Forest Department and Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT). Here’s a detailed explainer on the controversy surrounding the film.
Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre accused a central public sector firm, HMT Limited, of illegally occupying, leasing out, and selling forest land to private individuals and government entities.
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In a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary for the Forest Department, Khandre stated that over 559 acres of land in Bengaluru’s Peenya Plantation 1 and 2 was illegally donated to HMT in the 1960s without denotifying the land, originally declared as a reserved forest in a gazette notification.
Khandre, referring to Supreme Court’s stance that “once a forest, always a forest unless denotified,” stated that technically, the area still remained a forest.
The minister accused HMT of encouraging non-forestry activities in the land including leasing the land to the makers of Toxic. Citing satellite images which allegedly show several trees cut in the forest area with a huge set built on the land. Shooting for the Yash film has been going on since August.
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“This illegal act is clearly visible from the satellite images, I visited the place today and inspected it. I have instructed to take immediate strict legal action against those responsible for this illegal act. Protection of our forest and environment is a major responsibility of all of us. If illegal activities are found in forest land, I am committed to take strict action against them,” the minister tweeted on social media app X.
ಎಚ್.ಎಂ.ಟಿ. ವಶದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಅರಣ್ಯ ಭೂಮಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಟಾಕ್ಸಿಕ್’ ಎಂಬ ಚಲನಚಿತ್ರದ ಚಿತ್ರೀಕರಣಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ನೂರಾರು ಮರಗಳನ್ನು ಅಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿ ಕಡಿದು ಹಾನಿಗೊಳಿಸಿರುವ ವಿಚಾರ ಗಂಭೀರ ಚಿಂತೆ ಮೂಡಿಸಿದೆ. ಸ್ಯಾಟೆಲೈಟ್ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಿಂದ ಈ ಅಕ್ರಮ ಕೃತ್ಯವು ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ಕಾಣುತ್ತಿದ್ದು, ಇಂದು ಸ್ಥಳಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ ಪರಿಶೀಲನೆ ನಡೆಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಈ ಅಕ್ರಮ ಕೃತ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ… pic.twitter.com/yrjHhG9kLA
— Eshwar Khandre (@eshwar_khandre) October 29, 2024
Khandre also added that the film team built a small village set in the land but clarified that he wasn’t complaining about the film’s production team but wanted to determine who had violated the rules.
Meanwhile, KVN Productions, the makers of Toxic, stated that the set was built on private property and no violation of forest rules took place.
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The minister’s remarks sparked opposition from Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy, who dismissed the allegations and stated that HMT Limited, which falls under his jurisdiction, legally owns the property.
Notably, both the ministers have clashed with each other over HMT’s alleged violations of forest laws since August.
