NEW DELHI // A prestigious, multibillion-rupee project to build a neutrino observatory under a mountain in southern India has run aground, with politicians and activists raising fears of radioactivity and water pollution.
The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), a collaboration between seven scientific research institutions in the country, was set up to study atmospheric neutrinos — elusive fundamental particles created when cosmic rays strike the Earth’s atmosphere.
The 15-billion-rupee (Dh868 million) project has had a slow start.
Initial discussions began 14 years ago in 2001, planning continued through 2009, a final site in Tamil Nadu was allocated in 2012, government funding was granted last year, and in January, the project received final approval by prime minister Narendra Modi’s administration.
However, opponents of the project have insisted that it will wreck forests inear to the site in the district of Theni, and that construction will ruin groundwater supplies.
One NGO, the Kerala-based Society of Science Environment and Ethics, has also claimed that the INO is a cover for India-US atomic experiments, and that a stream of neutrinos beamed to Theni from Chicago’s Fermilab could have radioactive substances potentially hazardous to Indian villagers.
The scientists involved in the project reject the claims and say the project will release no radioactivity at all, and that it will cause minimal pollution.
In March, a bench of the Madras high court barred any work from proceeding on the INO until the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board issued a report about the project.
The report has yet to be completed, leaving scientists frustrated and anxious about the future of their project.
Building the observatory under a mountain is crucial to the project’s success, said Naba Mondal, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai.
Since atmospheric neutrinos have such high energies, “experiments have to be set up under rock coverage”, he added. Rock that is a kilometre or more thick acts as a filter, blocking lower energy particles but allowing neutrinos to zip through.
In fact, India’s earlier set of neutrino experiments which began in 1965, were conducted at depths of between two and three kilometres in a gold mine in Kolar, Karnataka. The experiments ran until 1992, when the government shut down the mine because its gold output was becoming commercially unviable.
V Narasimham, a physicist who worked in the Kolar lab, said he and his TIFR colleagues assembled a 300-ton neutrino spotter underground.
“It was a competitive world. We were in a race with some South African scientists to be the first in the world to detect atmospheric neutrinos,” Mr Narasimham said.
Although the South African team was the first to pick up these neutrinos, the Indian scientists beat them to publication.
The INO will feature a neutrino spotting machine weighing 50,000 tons — the weight of a battleship. It will consist of massive magnetised plates of iron, and sandwiched between these plates will be roughly 30,000 particle detectors.
This is a more complex machine than the one in Kolar, as it is designed to answer more complicated questions, Mr Mondal said.
Even before the science had begun, the scientists faced a different sort of challenge — allaying people’s fears.
D Indumathi, a particle physicist at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai, said that the INO had already been shifted once from another site in Tamil Nadu due to environmental concerns.
The new site, according to a government report in 2011, would face only “notional” forest clearance.
“No forest land is expected to be occupied, since both the tunnels and laboratories are underground,” the report said.
Despite this, Ms Indumathi said, she and other scientists conducted outreach programmes in Theni.
“Some people were afraid about whether the mountain would fall down if we tunnelled through it, others were confused about atoms and neutrinos,” she said. “Some people even had very simple questions: ‘You’ll fence off the area, so our goats won’t be able to graze in the mountains.’”
Through town-hall meetings, pamphlets and informal interactions, the scientists obtained the consent of most of the people who lived in the area, she said.
Some residents, however, continue to be mobilised by the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), a state political party headed by V Gopalsamy, who petitioned against the INO at the Madras high court saying that it posed a threat to groundwater and could “affect the livelihoods of five southern districts of the state”.
But Ms Indumathi is confident that the INO will not be a threat to the region. She also rejected the rumour that the INO will work with neutrinos beamed out from Fermilab.
“Even if there was such a beam of neutrinos — which is not the case — you’d need to be exposed it continuously for 100 million years to even equal the sort of radioactivity you’re exposed to in one normal year,” she said.
“A project that should be seen only on its own merits is being questioned along obscurantist, misleading, fear-mongering lines,” she said. “That is really a tragedy.”
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
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Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
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Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
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Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
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“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EElggo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20August%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Luma%20Makari%20and%20Mirna%20Mneimneh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Education%20technology%20%2F%20health%20technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Four%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
