The project aims at building a world-class underground laboratory
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has restrained the commencement of the Rs 1500 crore Neutrino project without clearance from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
The petitioner, MDMK Chief Vaiko, had sought direction to scrap the project citing environmental, heritage and seismological reasons.
The project aims at building a world-class underground laboratory with a rock cover of approximately 1,200 metre at Pottipuram village in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu. It will be jointly supported by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology.
Vaiko says the Western Ghats where the project would come up is a UNESCO world heritage site, which cannot be tampered with. Besides, he cites the presence of Kerala's Mathikettan Shola National Park in a radius of 2.8 km from the site. "Rules prohibit any development of this kind in a radius of 10 km from national parks. But authorities have completely suppressed these details, even the Kasturirangan committee has mentioned this" says Vaiko.
The MDMK chief says, "Hundreds of tonnes of explosives would be used to break open the rocks. Lakhs of litres of water would be required every day. It would destroy agriculture and livelihood of farmers in the area. In the event of earthquakes it would affect two dams in this region, affecting Kerala's Idukki district."
But the public prosecutor who opposed Vaiko's plea says, "The government had never plans to start the project without due environmental clearances. We would of course obtain all mandatory clearances."