CHENNAI: Even two months after the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) granted an environmental clearance for the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) proposed in Bodi West Hills in Theni district, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is yet to file a fresh application seeking Consent to Establish from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).
The consortium of research institutions led by Mumbai-based TIFR and Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai have been pushing hard to realise the INO project, which is India’s first-of-its-kind basic science project aimed at segregating the neutrino particles from other cosmic rays using the rocky strata as a filter media.There was a great urgency in March this year to fast-tract the project.
The Expert Appraisal Committee recommended grant of environmental clearance to the project on March 14 and by March 26 the clearance was granted by the ministry. Surprisingly, the Consent to Establish was not sought from the pollution board till date.
The pollution board officials confirmed to Express that they had not received any application from the TIFR. After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) passed order on March 20, 2017 wherein it has set aside the past environment clearance and directed the TIFR to submit new Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and obtain fresh clearance, TIFR’s application filed on May 22, 2015 seeking Consent to Establish was returned on August 24, 2017 with an order to re-submit the application along with fresh environment clearance. “So far, we haven’t heard anything from them,” a senior official said.
Last year, when the NGT bench asked why the TNPCB was sitting on consent application, the board told the tribunal that it did not have the expertise to take a call on such a science project and chose to form a six-member expert technical committee to study environment impact.The expert technical committee was asked to study various aspects of the project, which are the grounds on which the project has been challenged.
However, the committee never undertook the study. Now, on Friday, the pollution board submitted an affidavit before the principal bench of the NGT, Delhi in a case filed by Chennai-based activist G Sundararajan, according to which status quo was maintained at project site.
April 27 inspection
The board has inspected the site on April 27 and observed that the unit site was vacant with no activities. The entire site boundary was fenced with barbed wire. Other respondents TIFR and environment ministry has sought two weeks to file their replies