Explained: How Centre's neutrino observatory plan is a threat to Tamil Nadu tigers

The Tamil Nadu state government recently filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court disallowing the Centre to construct the proposed Indian Neutrino Observatory in Theni district. The government said in the affidavit that the project site in the Bodi West Hills will affect local biodiversity and tiger species at the Periyar Tiger Reserve and the Mathikettan Shola National Park. It alleged that the project is being pushed in an unscientific manner without paying attention to the basic environmental safeguards. What is the Indian Neutrino Observatory? According to the Indian government, the neutrino observatory project is envisioned as a “world-class underground laboratory to study fundamental issues in science”. With an investment of about Rs 1,538, the “mega-science project” will involve nearly 26 institutions and about 100 scientists with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research as the host. The central government states that the proposed neutrino observatory project has been considered one of the four most important neutrino projects worldwide and is the first of its kind collaboration in India. The project involves creating a “tunnel of about two kilometres in length, cutting through the rock formation, at a depth of one km from the peak”. “The advantage of having the tunnel one kilometre under the Earth is that it would not have any effect, whatsoever on the ecosystem or wildlife,” the government claims. The underground laboratory will be used to conduct nuclear physics research in India. The INO Project also aims to conduct non-accelerator based high energy research, according to the project’s official website. In particle physics, an accelerator propels charged particles, such as protons or electrons, at high speeds, close to the speed of light. According to ABP News, an Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector will also be constructed for studying neutrinos as part of the project. The aim of the calorimeter is to achieve a statistically significant number of neutrino interactions in a reasonable time frame with good energy and angular resolution. According to Scroll.in, the project will be crucial for several diverse and allied fields such as particle physics, cosmology and the origin of the universe, energy production mechanisms in the sun and other stars. What are the concerns? Conservationists and environmentalists say that the project site falls within a tiger corridor and threatens to fragment it. According to The Print, the Mathikettan Shola National Park in Idukki district of Kerala falls under the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), but not the Tamil Nadu side, making the INO project free of clearance from the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL). However, 31.45 hectares of the construction site fell inside the Mathikettan-Periyar tiger corridor, one of India’s 32 major tiger corridors recognised by the NTCA. Due to its position deep underground, it poses no threats to the tiger reserve, experts involved with the project have said. In 2017, the Tamil Nadu State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority said that the tunnelling work requires high strength explosives to blast the hard and composite rock mass. In its affidavit filed in February this year, the Tamil Nadu government said that the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden has also not recommended the project citing “enormous irreversible damage likely to be caused by the project”. It highlighted the project and allied activities there could bring an enormous impact on tigers as even a little vibration in the land can bring enough disturbance to its movement pattern and they will ultimately start avoiding this corridor leading to “no other alternative for genetic dispersion”. G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbaragal, a voluntary environment group, told Mongabay-India that the “project is supposed to be a prestigious science project which India has not undertaken in the last seventy years but the entire approach for this is very unscientific”. “The most basic requirement for this project is a comprehensive environmental study that has not been conducted in the last 10 years. Instead, all laws and rules were bent to clear the project,” he said. The case is scheduled to be heard on April 21. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.