KGF starrer Yash’s film ‘Toxic’ stirs controversy over felling of trees in Bengaluru for shooting. The state authorities are taking measures

Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre has taken strict disciplinary action against the officials who allowed cutting down of trees in the forest for the shooting of the Kannada film Toxic. Starring KGF star Yash, the film was shot on set in a forested area in Penya, Bengaluru. While inspecting the scene, Khandre discovered that trees had been illegally cut down to facilitate the film’s production, prompting him to order a thorough investigation.

The minister highlighted that 599 acres of Peña-Jalahalli region has been declared a protected forest through an official notification. However, this land was controversially transferred to Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) in the 1960s without proper de-notification. Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling that “when forest is forest, unless de-notified,” Candre stressed that the area remains protected under forest law despite its current use by HMT.

Handre found that HMT not only illegally retained forest land, but also sold parts of it to government agencies, private individuals and individuals. In addition, the state enterprise leased plots of this land for non-forest activities, including film shooting. The Minister said that unauthorized felling of trees and misuse of land could be verified through satellite imagery received from the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Center (KSRSAC). He demanded an estimate of how many trees were cut down and whether the appropriate permits had been obtained for this activity.

In his address to the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment, Khandre emphasized that arbitrary cutting of trees in forest areas is a criminal offence. He instructed the officials to identify the culprits and initiate cases of forest encroachment against them. He also called for disciplinary action against any officer who approved illegal felling of trees or allowed land to be used for non-forest purposes, including shooting of a film.