India began a decade-long journey to establish a world class scientific project. India-based Neutrino ObservatoryTamil Nadu, a project in particle physics research. The controversy surrounding the project is that it is being promoted in an unscientific way without respecting the basic environmental safeguards.
The Tamil Nadu government, which opposes the project, claims that it could threaten the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats. More importantly, it could have a negative impact on the survival and habitats of wildlife, including India’s national animal, tiger.
Recently, the state government filed an affidavit at the Supreme Court opposing the neutrino observatory plan.
According to the Indian governmentThe neutrino observatory project, which is an underground laboratory that will study fundamental science issues, is being envisioned. The mega-science project, which will cost Rs 1,538 crores, is of national importance and, once it is completed, it will be the largest basic science project in India, according to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Important project
The central government stated that the proposed neutrino observatory is one of four most important neutrino project worldwide. It is the first collaboration of its kind in India, with nearly 26 institutions and approximately 100 scientists participating. The TataInstitute of Fundamental Research was the host institution.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had granted environmental clearance to the neutrino observatory project in April 2008. This was in order to establish the India-based Neutrino Observatory, located at Singam village, Tamil Nadus Nilgiris. The ministry withdrew that clearance in December 2009 after receiving numerous objections from people who believed that the project would have an adverse effect on the environment.
The Tata Institute of Fundamental research was asked by the Tata Foundation to find an alternative site. The observatory was approved for use in June 2011 at Pottipuram village in Uthampalyam district, Tamil Nadus Theni.
G Sundarrajan from Poovulagin Nanbaragal challenged the clearance at the National Green Tribunal in February 2015. This voluntary environmental organisation is a voluntary one. In March 2017, the green tribunal placed the clearance on hold.
In June 2017, the project proponent applied to the Tamil Nadu State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority for a new environmental clearance. They refused to assess the project because of its huge adverse environmental impact and asked them instead to approach the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
After a series of discussions with the state authority, the Union environment ministry recommended that the environment clearance be granted for the project in March 2018. The clearance was then challenged at the National Green Tribunal. This upheld the clearance, and the matter was finally taken to the Supreme Court of India.
According to the Indian government, this project will create a tunnel measuring approximately two kilometres length and cutting through rock formations at a depth of just one kilometer from the peak. It also notes that a housing facility is being planned for the scientists who will be working in the laboratory as an ancillary to this tunnel. The advantage of the tunnel being one kilometre below the Earth is that it would have no effect whatsoever on the ecosystem and wildlife.
The central government claims that this field is attracting worldwide attention due to its implications on many different fields, including particle physics, cosmology, the origin and evolution of the universe, as well as energy production mechanisms in the sun, stars, and other related fields.
Possible threat
Tamil Nadu, the state where the proposed project is located, disagrees strongly with the central government. While noting the reasons why the project was denied clearance by the central government, the Tamil Nadu State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority stated that the tunnelling work requires blasting the hard, composite rock mass and a large amount of high strength explosives. It noted that the Western Ghats are a biodiversity hotspot with many endemic species, including reptiles, amphibians, fishes, birds, mammals, and invertebrates.
On February 15,Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forest Department, Tamil Nadu Government, filed an affidavit at the Supreme Court, emphasizing the state’s opposition to the project.
The affidavit indicated that Thenis District’s Forest Officer had not recommended the project as the proposed project falls within the Mathikettan Periyar Tiger Corridor (as shown by the National Tiger Conservation Authority) and the fragile ecology will be negatively affected by the proposed project. The affidavit also stated that the Principal Chief Conservator for Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden had not recommended the project, citing the potential irreversible damage to the ecosystem.
It was clear that the project and its allied activities could have a huge impact on tigers. Even a slight vibration in the ground can cause enough disturbance to their movement patterns and they will eventually avoid this corridor, which is the only alternative to genetic dispersion.
The affidavit also noted that the area is a significant watershed, water catchment and ecologically sensitive area of the River Sambal. According to the Tamil Nadu government the watershed is the lifeline for the local communities because it supports their livelihoods as well as providing water for the drinking and agricultural needs of five districts.
On the next page, February 21The Supreme Court rejected concerns about the project’s impact on wildlife and ecology. It claimed that the Western Ghats steep slopes provide ideal rock conditions for large underground caverns. Additionally, the site chosen provides stable dense rocks with maximum safety.
It also stated that the area receives very little rainfall and that no tree cutting is necessary. The affidavit said that the project will not cause displacement or pollution, and that it is not located in an ecologically sensitive zone or national park.
Then, a separate affidavit will be filed. March 23Gobinda Majumder (the neutrino observatory’s project director) and a professor at the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research stated that the Tamil Nadu government had funded the project in 2019. He stated that the Tamil Nadu government was supporting and sponsoring this project. He also highlighted facilities like fencing and a 1.2million-litre water tank.
The Supreme Court was told by the project director that in 2021, there would be a change of government at Tamil Nadu. The new political party made a complete change in stance. While it is possible for political parties to form the government, they could come and go. However, Tamil Nadu is the only state that has a single corporation and which does not change. According to the affidavit, simply because there was a change in the power of a political party cannot mean that the state Tamil Nadu takes a stand against the one it had taken before, even though it is governed by a competing party.
In June 2021, Tamil Nadus Chief minister MK Stalin met Prime Minster Narendra Modi to present him with a memorandum asking him not to implement his project. This was in protest of the serious repercussions. The memorandum highlighted that the project could have a negative impact on the Mathikettan–Periyar Tiger corridor, which plays a vital and important role in maintaining the genetic flow. This will be completely destroyed by the project.
A ministerial delegation from the Tamil Nadu government met Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Industries and Commerce, in September 2021 to discuss the possibility of the project being abandoned. Stalin was then expelled on March 14, 2022. I wrote a letterPM Modi asked him to advise Tamil Nadu authorities to end the neutrino observatory.
Majumder said that Tamil Nadus’ latest stand would impede the country’s progress. The project, if completed, would be India’s leading scientific achievement, being one of only four or five projects in the world.
G Sundarrajan, a petitioner at the Supreme Court, stated Mongabay-IndiaThis project is supposed be a prestigious scientific project that India has not undertaken for the past seventy-years, but the whole approach is very unscientific.
It is obvious that the project is located in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats region, G Sundarrajan Of. Poovulagin NanbaragalA voluntary environment group called, told Mongabay-India. It must have been for a valid reason that the project was twice rejected. A comprehensive environmental study must be done that has not been completed in the past 10 years. This is the most important requirement for this project. Instead, all laws and rules were bent in order to clear the project.
Sundarrajan, who is also the CEO of a software company, stated that even the institutions involved in the project have a high reputation. A comprehensive environmental impact study is therefore crucial. Despite all the international attention, the Indian establishment is not paying enough attention to protecting the environment. It is still not given the importance it deserves at the ground level.
Hearings are scheduled for the case now April 21.
This article was first published on Mongabay.
