The country’s green court has issued an interim stay on the Neutrino Observatory project, which was being planned in Theni district, Tamil Nadu. It has cited that this could cause harm to the environment.

In March, the project had gotten a nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The project involves setting up infrastructure to study atmospheric neutrinos produced by cosmic rays in a 1200 metres deep cave under a mountain. It is slated to be set up in Bodi West Hills on Tamil Nadu-Kerala border but environmental activists are vehemently opposed to it because of the damage it will cause to the surroundings.

The idea was first floated in 2005 and has since faced multiple hurdles.

Apart from environmental clearances, the project was also wanting for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) clearances as Mathikettan Shola National Park in Idukki district of Kerala lies close by. It is still unclear if those clearances have come by. Activists allege that clearance from MoEF was ‘illegal.’

While earlier the observatory was to be built in Singara in Nilgiris and MoEF had cleared that plan, it later suggested an alternative site in Bodi West Hills after stiff resistance to the former site by activists as it was near Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and near the elephant corridor.

In 2015, the Union Cabinet had sanctioned ₹1,500 crore for the construction of a lab under the hill in Theni.

In 2017, southern bench of the green tribunal cancelled the environmental clearance and ordered for fresh clearance after conducting public hearings and while MoEF issued fresh clearance yet again last year, the central bench of NGT has now issued an interim stay.

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