Tamil Nadu State Government, through its affidavit has made clear to the Supreme Court that it does not want the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) to be set up in Theni.
Concerns raised
- In its affidavit, the State Environment Department said the the project is proposed in a sensitive ecological zone in the Western Ghats, which has a great cost to wildlife, biodiversity.
- The State also said the INO project would be a source of distress to the shy tigers and cause enormous irreversible damage to the already bogged down Western Ghats.
- The state government also state that the INO project falls exactly on the hill slopes of this part of the Western Ghats, which align within it a significant tiger corridor, namely the Mathikettan-Periyar tiger corridor. This corridor links the Periyar Tiger Reserve along the Kerala and Tamil Nadu borders and the Mathikettan Shola National Park.
- The proposed project area also ecologically links to the eastern habitats, where Srivilliputhur Meghamalai Tiger Reserve is located. It hosts tigers from this region and helps in genetic dispersal.
- The area is a significant watershed and catchment zone for the rivers Sambhal and Kottakudi.
About Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO)
- The India Based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project is being set up in the Bodi West Hills at the Pottipuram village in Theni district of Tamil Nadu.
- The project aims at carrying out research to study the properties of neutrinos which are the second most abundant particles in the Universe.
What are Neutrinos?
- Neutrinos are neutral particles and weakly interactive particles which are very difficult to detect. Therefore, they need a massive detector.
- INO detector will be a multi layer stack of magnetized iron plates.
- The INO will ultimately help in understanding the evolution of universe. The detectors developed for the INO project will also have societal applications such as in medical imaging.
(Source: The Hindu and PIB)
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