In March 2017, National Green Tribunal (NGT) suspended the environmental clearance (EC) granted to the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), and ordered it to file a fresh application for clearance.
This had made India to suffer a procedural delay to join the elite club of countries undertaking neutrino research.
What is the INO project?
Neutrinos are tiny particles, almost massless, that travel at near light speeds.
They are born from violent astrophysical events like exploding stars, nuclear fusion in the sun and gamma ray bursts.
They are abundant in the universe, and can move easily through matter.
They are very difficult to track down.
The proposed INO project primarily aims to study atmospheric neutrinos in a 1,300-m deep cavern in the Bodi West Hills in Theni district, Tamil Nadu.
If completed, it would house the largest magnet in the world.
Neutrinos hold the blueprint of nature, which the INO project aims to use to understand some of the unsolved mysteries of the universe.
What are the concerns?
The explosives used in construction are considered a threat to the highly sensitive ecology of the Western Ghats.
But the excavation is planned to be carried out by a controlled blast, limiting the impact of vibrations with the help of computer simulations.
There are questions about the relevant radiation safety studies for carrying out the long baseline neutrino experiment.
But an underground lab accessed by a 2 km-long horizontal access tunnel, resembling a road tunnel is to be constructed.
Such tunnels have been built extensively in India and the relevant studies show that the environmental impacts have been managed.
In the second phase, a far detector for the Neutrino Factory has been initially planned.
It is a proposed particle accelerator.
This may not be necessary because of the discoveries already being made in the field.
Even if you build it, the radiation from the neutrino beam would be one in 100 millionth of the natural radiation, which is negligible.
What should be done?
Allegations such as neutrinos being radioactive particles and that the INO will double up the storage of nuclear waste do not hold ground.
Such assumptions and procedural lapses have pushed this project into a limbo.
Any further delays could defeat the purpose of the project because similar projects elsewhere could undermine India’s efforts.
We should generate sufficient public support for such high technology and science projects.
The communication between the scientific community and the public should be more basic and democratic.
