Theni villagers worried as Centre says no change in neutrino project

Madurai: Many villagers of Chinnapottipuram inTheni district, where the India-based Neutrino Observatory is to come up, are unhappy about the determination of the central government to implement the project in the hillock in their village.

They renewed their apprehensions in the context of the government’s reiteration in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the project was very much on.

Mari, a villager, said they were confident that the deity Ambarappar would protect them as they have been continuously offering prayers to him. The hillock that is going to be excavated for the laboratory is known as the Ambarappar malai and people worship the hill as their deity. ``We have seen vehicles come and go up the path and return for quite some time, but we have faith in god and the people who help us,’’ said N Pandian, another villager.

P Alagarsamy of Pottipuram says that the hill has many crevices from which rain water flows into their local tank. ``The expanse of the hill brings a lot of water if it rains continuously for a few hours, but now we have been struggling for drinking water.

If the hill is destroyed, this area would become completely barren,’’ he said. For the men in the village, drinking water is their immediate concern. Alagarsamy says that women have intensified their worship from Thursday and lit the lamp late in the night as news trickled in through TV channels about the government’s resolve to go ahead.

``Some are saying that the rays that are going to be studied are harmful but others say they are not. They are going ahead with the project and as the state government is also supporting it, they will find it easy,’’ said Pottipuram DMK secretary Muthu Vijayan.

He says they will organize protests if their party high command directs them to. The villagers had passed a resolution against the neutrino project at the recently-held special gram sabha in their village.

G Sundarajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, who had obtained a stay at the National Green Tribunal against the project, said that the government had already cleared the project and it had only been reiterated in Parliament. “It is undemocratic as the village had recently passed a resolution in the gram sabha against the project. We will see if they vacate the stay in the NGT and then decide on the next course of action,’’ he said.

What must be considered is the need for such a project in an eco-sensitive zone like Theni and its surroundings, he added. Meanwhile, in a statement, MDMK leader Vaiko has strongly condemned the central government’s move to go ahead with the project.

“This is coming up in an area declared as bio-diversity heritage which must be protected by Unesco. I will continue to oppose it,” he added.