National Green Tribunal's Western Bench to open on August 25

: The National Green Tribunal's Western Zonal Bench in Pune will be inaugurated on August 25 and a host of dignitaries, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan will participate.
"Justice V R Kingaonkar will be the judicial member and former Member Secretary of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Ajay Deshpande the expert member," Justice P Jyothimani, Judicial Member, NGT has said.
The Western Bench will have jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and union territories of Daman, Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Stating that the inaugural function will be attended by a host of VVIPs, Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Minister of State for Environment Jayanthi Natarajan and Chairperson of NGT, Justice Swatanter Kumar, he said.

"Besides the Principal Bench at New Delhi, NGT now has regional benches at Bhopal, Chennai and Pune. Efforts are being made to open one more at Kolkata for the Eastern Zone. A case is pending in Supreme Court," Justice Jyothimani said.
The National Green Tribunal was established on October 18, 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental issues.