Work on Neutrino project begins

Work on the India-based Neutrino Observatory I (NO) at the Bodi West Hill in Theni district in Tamil Nadu bordering the State has begun after the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) gave a green signal to the project jointly taken up by the Department of Atomic Emery and the Department of Science and Technology.

The Bodi West Hills, near the Western Ghats in Idukki district, was selected after the MoEF denied permission to set up the observatory at Singara in Nilgiri district as it is close to the Mudumalai National Park. The INO is an underground project, jointly supported by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The INO will comprise a complex of underground caverns with the main one housing a 130-metre-long, 21-metre-wide and 30-metre detector. There will also be underground caverns used for experiments of neutrino and dark matter.

The entire area has been fenced and the Tamil Nadu police have restricted entry into the area to facilitate tunnel work and granite removal.

People living close to the area have expressed concern over the possible environment problems in the villages on the border. There is no information available with the State agencies regarding the INO project. An official of the Nedumkandam grama panchayat on the border said apprehensions expressed by the people have to be allayed. The only information regarding the project was from media reports and objections to it in Tamil Nadu reflect in the border villages, he added.

The INO will be set up in a 1,300-metre deep underground area inside the main hill. The protest march led by MDMK leader Vaiko at Cumbom recently raised environmental issues. As the projects is in the earthquake -prone area, its impact can be gauged when 8-lakh tonne quarries will be blasted for making the underground tunnel. There are also 16 small and big dams, including the century-old Mullaperiyar dam close to the Bodi West Hills, it is pointed out.

A two-lane road to the INO will form part of the construction and work on it will be started soon, sources said.