‘Agonised’ over verdict,Jairam says first green court will be in Bhopal

Stating that the National Green Tribunal would be a network of dedicated courts for environment issues,he said the first such court would be set up in Bhopal. “This is deliberate. This is a decision to show sensitivity to the tragedy of Bhopal,” he said.

“These courts will decide on civil matters relating to the environment. And I can assure you,these verdicts won’t take 20 years,” he added.

His comments came a day after a Bhopal court sentenced former Union Carbide India Ltd non-executive chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others to two years imprisonment each in the gas tragedy case,over 25 years after the industrial disaster left thousands dead.

“We are trying to set up a National Environment Protection Authority,which will be something like a watchdog. I want to fast-track this. The Ministry is working towards bringing this to Parliament by August,” Ramesh said.

On the Environment Protection Act,1986,which was put in place after the Bhopal gas tragedy,he said: “I actually feel that it is a very progressive Act. The challenge is to implement it. We have to implement it without fear or favour.”

Expressing concern that the existing pollution boards were “not working to full capacity”,he said,“New institutions can be created,others can be cleaned up. Both can be done.”