Establishment and Mandate
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was established in 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act. India is one of the few countries in the world, and the first developing country, to have a specialized environmental court. Its mandate is the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection, conservation of forests, and other natural resources.
Guiding Principles of the NGT
The NGT is not bound by the rigorous procedural rules of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but is guided by the principles of natural justice. Furthermore, it is statutorily mandated to apply key international environmental principles in its decisions:
- Sustainable Development: Balancing economic growth with environmental preservation.
- Precautionary Principle: Taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty; shifting the burden of proof to those proposing potentially harmful activities.
- Polluter Pays Principle: Ensuring that those who cause environmental pollution bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment.
Recent Interventions and Impact
The NGT has been highly proactive in recent times. Notable interventions include:
- Imposing heavy penalties on state governments and municipal corporations for improper solid and liquid waste management.
- Banning decade-old diesel vehicles in the National Capital Region (NCR) to combat severe air pollution.
- Halting illegal sand mining in riverbeds across various states.
- Ensuring the protection of wetlands and ecologically sensitive zones from illegal construction and encroachment.
Challenges Facing the NGT
Despite its significant impact, the NGT faces operational challenges. These include chronic vacancies in judicial and expert member positions, which slow down case disposal. Furthermore, enforcing its orders on the ground remains a challenge due to a lack of dedicated enforcement machinery and occasional friction with state pollution control boards and administrative bodies.