NGT Seeks Reply on Aravali Land Occupation | 13 Apr 2024

Why in News?

National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to Faridabad municipal corporation on allegations of illegally cutting 180 trees in the Aravallis and encroaching on forest department land to expand a waste processing plant.

Key Points

  • A committee appointed by the tribunal to investigate the allegations has submitted its report. The report highlights the violations committed by the corporation.
  • The dispute surrounds a 50-acre land parcel in Pratapgarh village. Although the civic body owns 47 acres of this land, the remaining is still with the forest and health departments.
  • The NGT panel recommended that:
    • The municipal body must take permission from Haryana pollution board before starting operations at the site.
    • They must also set up a leachate treatment plant and create a green area in the vicinity that will act as a buffer zone between the Aravallis and the waste processing unit.

National Green Tribunal (NGT)

  • It is a specialised body set up under the National Green Tribunal Act (2010) for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
  • With the establishment of the NGT, India became the third country in the world to set up a specialised environmental tribunal, only after Australia and New Zealand, and the first developing country to do so.
  • NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing the same.
  • The NGT has five places of sittings, New Delhi is the Principal place of sitting and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four.