National Green Tribunal Puts A Stay On India-Based Neutrino Observatory Project In Western Ghats

Citing environmental impact caused by it, the National Green Tribunal has issued a stay on the India-based Neutrino Observatory Project (INO) which is being constructed in Theni district of Tamil Nadu.

The NGT issued an interim stay order on a set of complaints filed by environmentalists and activists from Tamil Nadu who had been opposing the massive construction in the ecologically fragile western ghats.

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Issuing the stay order, the NGT said the clearance for the project can only be given based on the Kasturirangan Committee report on the Western Ghats.

It also directed that the project should also be cleared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

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Earlier in March, the project had received clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, saying the Expert Appraisal Committee, after detailed deliberations during meetings on January 25 and March 5, recommended a grant of environmental clearance.

However, environmentalists and activists who have been campaigning against the project said the nodal agency has violated the laws by not conducting a public hearing of concerns of those likely to be affected by the massive project.

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The ambitious project is coming up in the Bodi West Hills in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, near the Kerala border, in the Western Ghats, considered an ecologically fragile area, home to much rare flora and fauna.

The basic science projects that would primarily study atmospheric neutrinos produced by cosmic rays in a 1,200 meters deep cave under a mountain and is expected to cost around Rs 15,000 crores.

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Once completed, INO will house the largest magnet in the world, a 50,000-tonne iron calorimeter, four times larger than CERN¡¯s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector¡¯s magnet.

The total plot area required is 31.445 ha (overground 26.825 ha and underground 4.62 ha). The total built-up area of the underground facility is 20,552 sqm and over the ground, the facility is 10,762 sqm.

But environmentalist and locals say such massive scale of construction underground, and controlled blasts, the vibrations from the explosions will badly affect the ecologically fragile Western Ghats.

The site which is near the Kerala-Tamilnadu border is close to the Mathikettan Shola National Park, and a number of hydro electric projects, which accounts for the majority of the electricity generation in Kerala.