The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project, proposed near Pottipuram in Theni district, does not pose any danger to the environment and will not have any effect on the water table or dams which are far away, Nobel laureates, scientists and academicians said in a letter to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin while urging him to approve the project.
The signatories to the letter include Nobel laureates Prof. Arthur B. McDonald and Prof. Takaaki Kajita; G Baskaran, Distinguished Visiting Researcher, Perimeter Institute, Canada and IIT Madras; T.R. Govindarajan, former professor, IMSc, and 75 other scientists and academicians. “Technically speaking, it is a telescope, to be built under a hill to detect billions of neutrinos that are passing through us continuously without any effect. It is similar to the optical telescopes we have at Kodaikanal, Kavalur and the Radio Telescope at Ooty and will bring fame through scientific contributions,” they said. The signatories said neutrinos are shy and non-interacting and hence absolutely harmless, which need very special detectors. The big hill above the observatory at the tunnel is needed to filter the neutrinos from other aggressive cosmic ray particles and Tamil Nadu was specially suited for this observatory as the hills are made of dense Charnockite rocks and provide a good shield from cosmic rays, they said.
The signatories said some activist groups had been opposing the project by creating unwarranted fear among the people.
