INO Construction at a Standstill

The India-based Neutrino Observatory is a proposed particle-physics facility, to be constructed in a 1,300-meter (4,265-foot) -deep cave under Ino Peak, near Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu, in India. The project is one of the largest experiments in the country, and it is especially designed to be able to measure the properties of atmospheric neutrinos with an increased accuracy, and also to provide experts with thorough neutrino-mixing parameter calculations. The construction at the site is, however, impeded by the fact that conservationists say the structure cannot be built near a wildlife reserve, where elephants and tigers live, Nature News reports.

The US $160-million construction was supposed to be finished in 2012, but, until now, works have not begun at the designated site. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, 250 kilometers South of Bangalore, is a prime natural habitat for many endangered species, and it is composed of 5,500 square kilometers of continuous forest covers and six protected areas. Under the current plans, the INO is to be built within a seven-kilometer area to the edge of one of these sanctuaries, and conservationists want none of this. The documents for the INO were submitted in 2006, but the workers received no reply to date.

“The INO will bring more big science to India and enhance India's role as an important player in front-line science,” 11 leading physicists, including Nobel laureates Sheldon Glashow and Masatoshi Koshiba, wrote in a statement last month. They urged the Indian government to interfere and find some kind of solution for the stale conflict, which has brought the project at a standstill. Following their plea, the Indian Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, promised to travel to the troublesome site the following month, in order to assess the situation first-hand, and analyze the possible options.

“Transporting the estimated 630,000 tonnes of debris and 147,000 tonnes of construction material would require about 156,000 truck trips through 35 kilometers of forest – and two tiger reserves,” representatives from a group of Indian organizations concerned about the reserve that call themselves the NBR Alliance explain. The engineers “could hardly have picked a site in India more likely to damage wildlife. As well as being home to the largest single population of Asian elephants in the world, the Nilgiri is also one of the most important tiger habitats in the country,” Australian environmentalist and elephant expert John Seed adds.