NGT issues notices as study flags thermal plants as 'bigger polluters'

THE National Green Tribunal has issued notice to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFC), director of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region and others following a shocking study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), which reveals that thermal power plants in the National Capital Region (NCR) contribute a staggering 16 times more air pollution than the much-discussed issue of stubble burning and vehicles.

- SHEKHAR SINGH

A bench comprising Tribunal Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Judicial Member Arun Kumar, and Expert Member A. Senthil Vel has directed the respondents, including the Central Pollution Control Board and the pollution boards of states Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan, to respond via affidavits by March 12, 2025, a week before the next hearing scheduled