"The NGT has played a crucial role in protecting the forest, preventing illegal mining activities, preventing and controlling air pollution and preserving biodiversity.
The mission of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is to uphold the right of citizens to a clean and healthy environment and it is committed to ensuring a lasting impact on the country's environmental landscape, chairperson of the tribunal Justice Prakash Shrivastava said on Friday.
Delivering his speech on the foundation day of the NGT, Justice Shrivastava also asserted that environmental protection is a collective responsibility of the citizens.
He said India is the third country after Australia and New Zealand to set up a specialised tribunal for addressing environmental issues.
"Keeping in view the Stockholm declaration, the National Green Tribunal Act of 2010 was enacted, which is the parent enactment containing the seed of the National Green Tribunal, and in terms of the provisions thereon, the NGT was established on October 18, 2010," he said.
"As we look to the future, our mission is to uphold the right of our citizens to a clean and healthy environment. The NGT is committed to ensuring a lasting impact on the environmental landscape of our nation.... Environmental protection is a collective responsibility, wherein we all must work together to preserve our natural resources," Justice Shrivastava added.
He said the tribunal's decisions had contributed to the restoration of the degraded environment, prevention of further environmental damage and enforcement of environmental laws.
"The NGT has played a crucial role in protecting the forest, preventing illegal mining activities, preventing and controlling air pollution and preserving biodiversity.
"The tribunal has passed various orders to enforce stringent environmental regulations and ensure that industries and other project proponents comply with environmental norms. It has played a pivotal role in raising public awareness of environmental issues," the NGT chairperson said.
He said there are challenges across the globe regarding the issues of climate change, global warming, increasing pollution and loss of biodiversity that need immediate attention.
"The NGT is committed to addressing these challenges. We recognise the need for a comprehensive approach to combat these challenges," Justice Shrivastava said.
Regarding the poor Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi, he said, "Contributory factors, such as burning of parali (stubble), bursting of crackers, vehicular pollution, and prevailing weather conditions are leading to the deteriorating air quality.
"During the winter season in the previous year, we had witnessed severe air pollution. Hence, as conscious citizens, all of us have the responsibility to spread awareness about the contributory and mitigating factors concerning air quality. We all must discharge this responsibility with full seriousness to check the dipping air quality."
Former chairpersons of the green body, including Justices Swatanter Kumar and Adarsh Kumar Goel, were present at the event, which also included a tree-plantation programme.