82 per cent pending cases disposed in 2014: NGT

The National Green Tribunal today pronounced 56 judgments through which it disposed 209 cases relating to various significant environmental issues over different parts of the country.
The green panel pronounced judgments on various issues including cleaning of Ganga from Gomukh to Haridwar, camping and rafting activity in Rishikesh, agricultural crop burning, construction of mobile towers in parks and green areas, Tannery Industries along Ganga, MSW dumping, chopper services in Kedarnath etc.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, who spent almost two hours reading the operative part of various judgments, thanked the Judicial and Expert members for their cooperation in achieving the feat.

The bench, also comprising Judicial member M S Nambiar and expert members D K Agrawal and B S Sajwan, said it has disposed of 82 per cent pending cases in 2014.
"I want the disposal percentage to increase by 95 per cent," Justice Kumar said while asking the government counsel to cooperate in expeditious disposal of cases and not seek adjournments.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was established on October 18, 2010 under NGT Act 2010 for disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
It is a specialized body to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property.