Description

Tamil Nadu has informed the Supreme Court that it does not want the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) to be erected in a fragile ecological zone in the Western Ghats, at the expense of wildlife and biodiversity, as well as local resistance and public outrage.

Why is the state opposed to the project's implementation?

According to the Tamil Nadu government, the observatory project will cause lasting harm to the Western Ghats. The Chief Minister met with the Prime Minister in June 2021 and urged that the project not be undertaken. A team led by Member of Parliament T.R. Balu met with the Ministers of Industries and Forests in September 2021 to express the State's objection to the idea.

This corridor, according to the State, connects the Periyar Tiger Reserve on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border with the Mathikettan Shola National Park. The project area also has biological linkages to the Srivilliputhur Meghamalai Tiger Reserve, which is located in the eastern habitats. It is home to tigers from the area, which aids in genetic dispersion. Even the slightest perturbation would have an effect on the tiger's movement. The region is also an important watershed and catchment zone for the rivers Sambhal and Kottakudi.

Though the tests at the observatory would take place a kilometre down, excavations, transporting, and tunnelling would endanger the zone's environment. As a result, carrying out the project will have a negative impact on this area.

The Neutrino Observatory

The India Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a particle physics research project in Theni, Tamil Nadu that is being built to study atmospheric neutrinos. This study is notable because it will provide precise measurements of neutrino mixing parameters. The project is a multi-institutional collaboration and one of India's most important experimental particle physics programmes.

If and when this project is finished, the magnetised iron calorimeter experiment will employ the world's biggest magnet, which will be four times bigger than the 12,500-tonne magnet used in the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

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