Scientists, Academics Write To Tamil Nadu Chief Minister In Support Of Neutrino Project, Govt Unlikely To Budge

Several scientists and academics have written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to dispel widespread rumours about the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project proposed to be set up in the state. They have urged the Chief Minister to go ahead with the project stating that the construction and operation would be safe and there would be no hazards to the populace.

In the letter, the signatories state that the neutrinos are 'shy and non-interactive and hence absolutely harmless'. Well-known subject matter experts and scientists such as Prof. Arthur B. McDonald and Prof. Takaaki Kajita; G Baskaran, Distinguished Visiting Researcher, Perimeter Institute, Canada and IIT Madras; T.R. Govindarajan, former professor, IMSc are amongst the signatories to the letter.

CM MK Stalin, though, has only last week requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drop the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) project. The New Indian Express reported last week (18 June) that the State Board For Wildlife (SBWL) might formally reject the applications for clearance filed by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

INO, a joint project of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), proposes to build a world-class underground neutrino detector in the Bodi West Hills region of Theni district, about 110 kilometres west of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. In Jan 2015, Union Cabinet approved the Rs.1,584-crore project.

Neutrinos hold the key to critical questions on the origin of the universe and energy production in stars. Neutrinos are subatomic particles and, much like photons and electrons, are one of the fundamental particles of nature but not much is known about them. INO will provide the necessary infrastructure seek to find answers to many outstanding questions about the nature of the universe.

Under the proposed project, an indigenously built 50 kiloton magnetised iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector will be constructed to help detect both natural and man-made neutrinos. It will be the world’s most massive neutrino detector.

Bodi hills was selected as the location for the underground detector as the steep slopes of the Western Ghats provide ideal and stable rock conditions to build a large underground cavern for long-term use.

A large number of Tamil Nadu-based activists and political operators have come out in opposition to the project citing a range of reasons from safety hazards to the protection of wildlife. They have claimed that the project will damage the environment if a tunnel with a cavern was excavated in the hill to set up an underground observatory with a massive detector.

The scientists writing to the CM clarified that "...technically speaking, it is a telescope, to be built under a hill to detect billions of neutrinos that are passing through us continuously without any effect. It is similar to the optical telescopes we have at Kodaikanal, Kavalur and the Radio Telescope at Ooty and will bring fame through scientific contributions."

Given the state government's closeness to the activists' ecosystem and in line with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's tendency to give in to the demands of activists regardless of the project's merits, it is unlikely that the scientists' letter would have any effect.

Yesterday (28 June), the Chief Minister even met several activists who had called on him to thank the government for its opposition projects such as the Chennai - Salem eight-lane highway, the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) projects, and the closure of the Sterlite plant at Thoothukudi.