Examine the role of the National Green Tribunal in strengthening environmental governance in India, with reference to its recent directions on clean air fund utilisation.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), a specialised quasi-judicial body under the NGT Act, 2010, operationalises the right to a clean environment under Articles 21 and 48A. Its 2026 Southern Zone Bench order on clean air funds illustrates both its strength as an accountability institution and its structural limits.

How the NGT strengthens environmental governance

• Enforcing executive accountability: it directed five southern States and Puducherry to ensure "strict and time-bound" implementation of State Action Plans under the National Clean Air Programme, with sector-wise roadmaps and compliance reports [1].
• Scrutinising quality of spending, not just quantum: the Bench flagged "disproportionate expenditure" — over 86% of Karnataka's utilised funds on road dust control, only 6.6% on vehicular emissions and 4.1% on biomass burning [1].
• Deterrence through polluter-pays: the warning of environmental compensation converts advisory action plans into quasi-enforceable obligations [1].
• Correcting a geographic blind spot: it extends judicial oversight of air quality beyond Delhi-NCR to southern cities.

What the fund-utilisation case reveals

• A Centre–State absorption gap: of ₹13,036.52 crore released to 130 cities as performance-linked grants, roughly 71% has been utilised [2]; Bengaluru had spent only 13% of ₹541.1 crore by October 2024, rising to about 76% by September 2025 — belated compliance driven by litigation [1].
• Urban Local Bodies remain the weakest implementation tier, endangering NCAP's goal of up to 40% PM10 reduction by 2025-26 [3]. The Standing Committee similarly noted very low utilisation under the Control of Pollution scheme [4].

Limitations: NGT acts post-facto, depends on affidavits, lacks independent monitoring machinery, and faces vacancies and appellate delays — it can prompt compliance but cannot supply administrative capacity.

The NGT thus functions as an indispensable corrective rather than a substitute for executive will. Strengthening it through timely appointments, technical monitoring cells and outcome-linked ULB capacity-building would convert judicial prodding into durable environmental governance, advancing SDG 11 and the constitutional promise of clean air.