National Green Tribunal

• It is a statutory body established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
• It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.
• The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
• The Tribunal is vested with the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure for discharging its functions but it can make its own rules.
• It provides speedy environmental justice and helps reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts. 
• New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four places of sitting of the Tribunal.
• The NGT deals with civil cases under the seven laws related to the environment, these include

1.  The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
2. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977
3.  The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
4. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
5.  The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
6.  The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and
7.  The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

• Two important acts – Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 have been kept out of NGT’s jurisdiction.

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

• The goal of NCAP is to meet the prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards at all locations in the country in a stipulated time frame. 
• The tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
• The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. The list of 102 cities (NON-ATTAINMENT CITIES) across India are chosen for this intervention.

Why in the news?

• NGT is  hearing a case  about the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change’s NCAP.

Reference:

1. https://greentribunal.gov.in/about-us
2. https://vikaspedia.in/energy/policy-support/environment-1/air-1/national-clean-air-programme
3. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ngt-slams-ministrys-report-on-clean-air-programme/article32440795.ece#:~:text=The%20National%20Green%20Tribunal%20has,of%20air%20pollution%20by%202024.&text=It%20said%20the%20MoEF’s%20view,constitutional%20mandate%20under%20Article%2021.