Stalin urges PM to stop neutrino project in TN
The particle physics project, he said, will affect the local region’s biodiversity, tiger population and water flow.
Tamil Nadu chief minister (CM) M K Stalin has second time appealed Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi to shelve the proposal of setting up the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) in Tamil Nadu, after he made a similar request back in June last year to the Union government.
The particle physics project, he said, will affect the local region’s biodiversity, tiger population and water flow. “This request was made in the larger interest of conservation of the rich wildlife and biodiversity of the region, as the project would cause irreversible damage to the fragile and sensitive ecosystem,” Stalin said in his letter.
The ambitious particle physics project — initially proposed to be operational by 2020 — meant to study the properties of neutrinos but the project has been mired in court cases, environmental concerns and widespread local protests.
The project is proposed to come up at Pottipuram village in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district, about 4.9 km from Mathikettan Shola National Park.The site is within the Mathikettan- Periyar Tiger Corridor as mapped by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The corridor has the critical function of maintaining the genetic flow, which will be destroyed due to project activities, Stalin added. The project site also falls within the Bodi Hills West Reserve Forest, which lies in the Southern Western Ghats.
The chief minister made the following points to justify his opposition: That the Western Ghats area also links ecologically to the eastern habitats where Srivilliputhur Meghamalai Tiger Reserve is located and, hosts tigers from the region and, assists in genetic dispersal across the Western Ghats and their South-Eastern projections through the Cumbam Valley. Along with tigers, its co- predators, several other species of mammals, including the ungulates, reptiles and amphibians move around the slopes of these hills. The area also forms a significant watershed and water catchment for river Sambal and river Kottakudi. Small streams on the west side of Bodi hills join the Kottakudi river which joins the Periyar river before draining into the Vaigai dam. “This watershed is the lifeline of the local communities as it supports their livelihood and provides water for drinking and agricultural needs for five districts of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Stalin recalled observations made in the report of the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) in November 2017 (during the previous AIADMK regime) which called for safeguards while processing the proposal for granting environmental clearance.
The tunnelling work for the project involves carrying out blasting in the hard and composite rock mass and requires a huge quantity of high strength explosives to break it, according to the report. “Further, the tunnelling work involves the excavation of 600,000 cubic metres of Charnockite rock from the mountain,” the letter stated.
The report stated that the tunnel and cavern will be at a depth of 1,000 m from the top of the mountain and the mountain rock would be under tremendous pressure and the vertical stress is expected to be greater than 270kg per sqm. “This will create problems like rock bust and roof collapse. The proposals will have to be scrutinised using geotechnical studies for safeguards,” it added. The SElAA had referred the matter to the ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
In February this year, Tamil Nadu’s additional chief secretary, environment, climate change and forest department, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court that it cannot allow the project after the court was informed that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had given ‘no objection’ to build the underground laboratory at the project site. Last year, a delegation from Tamil Nadu led by DMK’s parliamentary leader T R Balu had met Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi to convey the state’s objection to the project.