The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Thursday said that it has jurisdiction to hear the petition filed by NGOs Goa Foundation and Peaceful Society, on the implementation of the Gadgil panel report on Western Ghats, filed against the Centre, states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and others. “The present application is maintainable before this Tribunal…having answered the questions as above, we direct that the main application be listed for hearing on merits,” said the Tribunals order. They had approached the Tribunal asking that the respondents should not issue any consent or environmental clearance or NOC or permission under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 or the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, within the Western Ghat areas, “particularly in relation to those which have been demarcated as Ecological Sensitive Zone I (ESZ 1) and Ecologically Sensitive Zone II (ESZ 2), with a final prayer that the respondents should discharge their obligation by exercise of the powers conferred on them under the enactments….” They also wanted a direction asking for preservation and protection of Western Ghats as asked for by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel in its report dated 31st August, 2012. The tribunal in its order said that they have been able to make a “case of non-performance of the statutory obligation by the State and other authorities concerned on the one hand and that of the need for preventing degradation of the environment and ecology of these Western Ghats under the precautionary principle, on the other.’ Stating that they had a legal right to approach the Tribunal and pray for relief within the scheme of the NGT Act, “To ensure that the environment is not degraded, it is the legal right of any person to raise issues arising from the Constitutional mandate and or even the provisions of the Environment Act. We are not in a position to accept the contention that the present application neither raises any dispute nor a substantial question of environment.”