Amid the growing protest by political leaders against the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project, Naba K. Mondal, project director, has said that it would be executed in five years. The Centre would release the first instalment in the next financial year beginning in April.
In a press release here on Monday, Mr. Mondal said the total cost of the project was Rs.1,583 crores, including Rs.83 crore approved early for the pre-project activities. A sum of Rs.470 crore would be spent on civil work, including the construction of the underground lab and surface facilities at Pottipuram, Inter -Institutional Centre for High Energy Physics (IICHEP) facility at Madurai and for road and water connections. Rest of the amount would be spent towards detector, which includes the cost of steel plates, RPCs and electronics. The project was expected to be completed in 2020 .
At present, sources at the project site said preliminary work has started at Pottipuram village in Thevaram. Fencing the land allotted has been completed. The process of laying a 2-km road connecting the lab and the main road is under way. The construction of a bridge across the stream on the prime road is on. A ground-level sump with a capacity of 12.5 lakh litre has been constructed to meet the demand for water.
In the meanwhile, project scientists and officials have been interacting with people and students in colleges across the district explaining the opportunities the project would provide students for advanced research and also allaying fears of the local people .
