Alternative Dispute Resolution refers to the means of settling disputes without going through legal procedures.  Through ADR settlement of disputes can be done in many formal and informal ways but here ADR emphasis is mainly on the settlement of disputes by local community initiatives.  It is an age-old tradition of society through which disputes are resolved amicably and which concerned parties accept.  Normally authority does not challenge it.  It is not institutionalized, but both the community members and the disputants accept it.  There are different ways to resolve disputes.  Some are resolved formally, others informally, and some are resolved as time passes by.