The Nilgiri forests

New Delhi, Nov. 23: The environment ministry has rejected a proposal by Indian scientists for an underground laboratory beneath the Nilgiri hills to study ghost-like subatomic particles called neutrinos, delaying the pursuit of a grand science project.

The proposed site for the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) at Singara in the Nilgiris is ecologically very sensitive because of its proximity to tiger habitats and elephant corridors, the ministry said, suggesting an alternative site called Suruliyar.

“The Singara site would not be advisable and the location at Suruliyar should be seriously considered,” minister of environment and forests Jairam Ramesh said in a communication sent on Friday to the department of atomic energy, the agency co-ordinating the INO project.

The project involves drilling a 2.1km tunnel into the hills and building a cavernous laboratory for experiments at the end of the tunnel in a zone completely surrounded by 1km of thick rock. Physicists have described the neutrino observatory as a mega science effort that will help the country acquire a unique experimental facility for current and future generations of scientists.

“We’re disappointed. But we’re now looking at the other site. This is far too important a project to be abandoned,” said Naba Mondal, a senior physicist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and the spokesperson for the INO project.

The INO, which is expected to cost Rs 900 crore, involves clusters of physicists from 15 institutions across the country, including the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre in Calcutta.

“This decision will certainly delay the project and it may have cost implications,” Mondal told The Telegraph.

“The big advantage at the Singara site is that we had extensive information about the underground rock structure. It’s nearly three years since we sought the environment and forests ministry’s approval. This has set us back. Some of us have spent nearly seven or eight years planning this project.” Suruliyar had been identified earlier as one of several possible sites for the INO, but scientists have relatively little information about its underground rock features.

INO consortium has now requested the Geological Survey of India to conduct studies.

The choice of Singara had generated debate, with environmental groups objecting to the site because of its proximity to elephant corridors. Project scientists argue that an elephant specialist, R. Sukumar, from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, had analysed the proposed activities and asserted that they would not have any adverse impact on wildlife or the environment.

But the ministry disagreed, arguing that the construction would involve transportation of building materials through the core areas of the tiger reserves. This, it felt, would disturb the wildlife habitats.

“The proposed project site (Singara) falls in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai tiger reserve and is in close proximity to the core-critical habitats of the Bandipur and Mudumalai tiger reserves,” Rajesh Gopal, principal chief conservator of forests, has said in a report. “It is also an elephant corridor, facilitating movement from the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats.”

The INO is designed to investigate neutrinos — tiny fundamental particles that can pass right through matter and are thus very hard to detect. Scientists hope to use detectors in the underground cavern at the INO to study neutrinos produced by cosmic rays in the Earth’s atmosphere.

There are several types of neutrinos: one INO objective is to determine which ones are heavier.

The ministry has said Suruliyar has the same type of geological rock formation as Singara and it does not have any wildlife corridor value.

But Mondal points out that only detailed geological studies would reveal the features of underground rocks. “Early results suggest that there are features that may require additional protective construction. This has the potential to raise costs,” he said.

In his letter to the department of atomic energy, minister Ramesh has acknowledged the significance of the INO plan and said that he has found the scientists as mindful of environmental issues as non-government agencies opposing the project.

“However, I think, on balance, the decision must go against Singara,” Ramesh said.