Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and advise the authorities concerned to release the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project in the state.
Stalin recalled a memorandum he had given to the Prime Minister on June 26, 2021, making a special request to the Center to drop the proposal to set up INOs at Pottipuram village in Theni district. This request was made in the larger interest of conserving the rich wildlife and biodiversity of the region, as the project would cause irreversible damage to the fragile and sensitive ecosystem.
The site being proposed for the project falls under the Mathikettan-Periyar Tiger Corridor as mapped by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. Stalin, in a letter to the Prime Minister, said that the corridor has the important function of maintaining genetic flow, which will be destroyed due to project activities.
The State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Tamil Nadu, processing the proposal for environmental clearance to the project in November 2017, stated that the tunnel work involved blasting into hard and mixed rock mass. , In addition, tunnel work involves excavating 600,000 cubic meters of Charnockite rock from the mountain.
The tunnel and cave will be at a depth of 1,000 meters from the top of the mountain. At a depth of 1,000 meters, the mountain rock will be under tremendous pressure, and the vertical stress is expected to exceed 270 kilograms per square metre. This will lead to problems like rock bust and roof collapse. The proposals will have to be examined using geotechnical studies for safeguards.
SEIAA referred the matter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The proposed project is located about 4.9 km from Mathiketan Shola National Park. The project site also falls within the Bodi Hills West Reserve Forest in the Southern Western Ghats.
The area also forms an important watershed and catchment area for the Sambal and Kottakudi rivers. On the west side of the Bodi hills, smaller streams join the Kottakudi River, which joins the Periyar River before joining the Vaigai Dam. This watershed is the lifeline of the local communities as it supports their livelihood and provides water for drinking and agricultural needs for five districts of Tamil Nadu.
Stalin said a ministerial delegation from the state had met Union Minister Piyush Goyal in this regard in September 2021. He had conveyed the specific stand of the state and requested to drop the project in view of the dire consequences that the project could have. “I once again request you to kindly intervene in this matter and advise the concerned authorities to shut down the INO project in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said.
Published on
14 March 2022