The two dams – Vaigai and Mullaperiyar— will not be affected by the proposed Neutrino project, Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Dr. Jitendra Singh informed the Parliament on Wednesday.
“The vibrations during the blasting phase of construction will not be felt even in the nearby villages that are situated a few kilometres away. There is no possibility of seismic events triggered by work at the INO site. However, seismic monitoring has to be carried out during construction as an abundant measure of caution,” Dr. Singh said.
The project involves controlled blasting for laboratory caverns and the construction of a 2-km-long tunnel that is expected to take about three years to complete.
The vibrations will not be above the acceptable limits of less than 1mm/sec beyond 200m distance from the blast zone, the Minister submitted.
The Minister said while environmental clearance for the project has been obtained, the application for seeking wildlife clearance and nod from TNPCB has been submitted.
“An 85-tonne prototype mini-ICAL detector has been built and is working on the IICHEP premises in Madurai,” he said.
