NGT's regional meet starts in Pune on Saturday

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) Regional Conference on Environment here on Saturday to discuss various burning issues concerning the protection and conservation of the environment, an official said on Monday.

The NGT meet will see participation of delegates from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Daman and Diu, ministers, judges from the Supreme Court and High Courts, lawyers, green activists, academicians and students from all over India, said organisers NGT's Subhash Karhale and Asim Sarode.

The meet will focus on the need for environmental awareness among all stakeholders pertaining to various emerging issues and understanding the importance of sustainable development in compliance with environmental laws, said Sarode, who is also Vice President, NGT Bar West Zone, Pune.

It will also provide a new dimension to the environmental jurisprudence from a scientific and legal perspective in finding effective solutions to ecological issues, he added.

Besides Fadnavis, the inaugural will have NGT Chairperson (retired) Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar, Supreme Court Justice M.B. Lokur, Justice U.D. Salvi and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.

The conference will comprise three technical sessions to be presided over by eminent personalities like Justice Abhay Oka of Bombay High Court, Justice P.P. Bhatt of Gujarat High Court and Justice P. Jyothimani, Judicial Member, NGT (SZB) Chennai.

The participants in the technical sessions include top IAS officers, judges, environmental activists, lawyers, academicians from IIT, NEERI, and pollution control board officials who will discuss issues pertaining to Ecology and Environment, Sustainable Development in Coastal Area, and Challenges in Waste Management, among other related topics.

The valedictory session on Sunday at the Dhanvantri Auditorium, in Wanowrie, will see top speakers like Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and Supreme Court Justice A.M. Khanvilkar attending.

--IANS

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