அச்சுதானந்தன், ரமேஷ் சென்னிதலாவுடன்வைகோ சந்திப்பு!

கேரள மாநில நிர்வாகச் சீர்திருத்த ஆணையத்தின் தலைவர், முன்னாள் முதல்வர், மார்க்சிஸ்ட் கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சியின் மூத்த தலைவர், வி.எஸ். அச்சுதானந்தன் அவர்களை, மறுமலர்ச்சி திராவிட முன்னேற்றக் கழகத்தின் பொதுச்செயலாளர் வைகோ அவர்கள் இன்று (21.3.2018) மாலை 5 மணிக்கு, திருவனந்தபுரத்தில் உள்ள அவரது இல்லத்தில் சந்தித்தார்.

தேனி மாவட்டம் அம்பரப்பர் மலையில், இலட்சக்கணக்கான டன் பாறைகளை வெட்டி எடுத்து, அங்கே இந்திய அரசு நியூட்ரினோ ஆய்வுக்கூடம் அமைக்க உள்ளது. இந்த வகையில் உலகத்தில் அமைக்கப்படுகின்ற மிகப்பெரிய ஆய்வுக்கூடம் இதுவாகத்தான் இருக்கும்.

பாறைகளைக் உடைப்பதால் ஏற்படக்கூடிய அதிர்வுகளால், அருகில் உள்ள கேரளத்தின் இடுக்கி அணையும், தமிழ்நாட்டின் முல்லைப்பெரியாறு அணையும் உடைந்து நொறுங்கும்; அணுக்கழிவுகளைக் கொண்டு வந்து இந்த ஆய்வகத்தில் கொட்டுவார்கள்; அமெரிக்காவில் உள்ள ~பெர்மி ஆய்வுக்கூடத்தில் இருந்து, செயற்கை நியூட்ரான்கள், இந்த ஆய்வுக்கூடத்திற்கு அனுப்பப்படும்.

இங்கிருந்து, உலகில் எந்த நாட்டில் உள்ள அணு ஆயுதங்களையும் வெடிக்கச் செய்யலாம்; செயல் இழக்கச் செய்யலாம். உலகில் அணு ஆயுதப் போர் எந்தப் பகுதியில் மூண்டாலும், தேனி மாவட்டம் அம்பரப்பர் ஆய்வகம்தான் முதல் தாக்குதலுக்கு உள்ளாகும். கேரள மாநிலம், தென் தமிழ்நாடு அழிந்து போகும்.

இதனை எதிர்த்து, சென்னை உயர்நீதிமன்ற மதுரைக் கிளையில் நான் வழக்குத் தொடுத்து, 2015 மார்ச் மாதம் தடை ஆணை வாங்கினேன். இந்தியப் பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடி, இந்தத் திட்டத்தை எப்படியும் நிறைவேற்றி விடத் துடிக்கின்றார். அமெரிக்காவின் அக்கறைதான் இதற்குக் காரணம். தமிழ்நாடு அரசின் மாசு கட்டுப்பாட்டு வாரிய அனுமதியைக் கொடுப்பதற்குப் பிரதமர் கட்டாயப்படுத்துகின்றார்.

எனவே, இந்தத் திட்டத்திற்கு எதிராக மக்கள் சக்தியைத் திரட்டுவதற்காக, மார்ச் 31 ஆம் தேதி காலையில், மதுரையில் இருந்து விவசாயிகள், இளைஞர்கள், தொண்டர்களோடு நியூட்ரினோ எதிர்ப்பு இயக்கத்தின் சார்பில், நான் நடைபயணம் தொடங்குகின்றேன். வழிநெடுகிலும் உள்ள கிராமங்களுக்குச் சென்று பிரச்சாரம் செய்து, ஏப்ரல் 9 ஆம் தேதி கம்பத்தில் நடைபயணம் நிறைவு பெறுகின்றது.

மார்ச் 31 ஆம் நாள் மதுரையில் நடைபயணத் தொடக்க நிகழ்வில் கலந்துகொண்டு வாழ்த்துரை வழங்க வேண்டும் என வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்தார். இப்பிரச்சினை குறித்த நீண்ட விளக்கக் கடிதத்தையும் வைகோ தந்தார்.

இந்த நிகழ்வில் அச்சுதானந்தன் அவர்கள் கலந்து கொள்கின்ற வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது என்று வைகோ தெரிவித்தார்.

அதன்பின், சட்டமன்ற எதிர்க்கட்சித் தலைவரும், உள்துறை முன்னாள் அமைச்சருமான காங்கிரஸ் கட்சியைச் சேர்ந்த ரமேஷ் சென்னிதலா அவர்களை, ஆறு மணிக்கு அவரது வீட்டில் வைகோ சந்தித்தார். அவரிடமும் இதுபற்றி விளக்கிக் கூறினார்.

ரமேஷ் சென்னிதலா அவர்கள், ஏப்ரல் 9 ஆம் தேதி கம்பம் நிறைவு நிகழ்ச்சிக்கு வருவதாக உறுதி அளித்தார்.

‘தாயகம்’ தலைமைக் கழகம்
சென்னை - 8 மறுமலர்ச்சி தி.மு.க.,

21.03.2018

Dear Comrade Achuthanandan,
Vanakkam. Well and I wish you all health.
I always have sincere regards and respects for your steadfast conviction to principles and dedicated fight for the cause.

May I recall you that I got the opportunity to meet you in person at Cochin on 14.02.2015 to submit a memorandum on INO,

You know pretty well that the disastrous India based Neutrino Observatory Project was sanctioned by the NDA Government headed by Narendra Modi, at the behest of US imperialism.
From the beginning, you have opposed strongly against this Neutrino Project in Western Ghats, which is declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

If the project is completed, it will be a dangerous threat to the existing Idukki dam and also Mullaiperiyar dam. 

The original plan is to dump nuclear waste in the observatory. 

I filed a writ petition in the Madurai bench of Madras High Court W.P.(MD)No.733 of 2015 and argued the case for three hours highlighting the following points. 

1. The Department of atomic Energy proposed to set up INO at Pottipuram Village of the Bodi West Hills in Theni district Tamilnadu. The proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) will bring unimaginable and terrible disaster to the mankind and the environment in and around Theni District in Tamil Nadu and Idukki District of Kerala. This catastrophe has been sanctioned by the Union Government on 5th January 2015 with an estimated budget of Rs. 1500 Crores.

2. The Ministry of Environment & Forest (IA.III Division) granted environment clearance in file No.21-67/2010-I.A.III dated 01.06.2011 for the construction of India based Neutrino observatory (INO) and communicated the same to the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai with specific conditions including the receipt of Consent for Establishment from Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board.
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has received the Central Government's final sanction for constructing the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), the biggest underground science laboratory in the world in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, bordering the Idukki district of Kerala, in the underbelly of the Western Ghats (77°17 5.32 E, 9°56 46.20 N).

The proposed site is in the most degraded portion of the Suruli Shear Zone, falling in seismic zone 35, with maximum earthquake intensity around MSK VII. 

There are 12 dams storing 5 billion m3 of water, the lifeline for six districts of Kerala and Tamilnadu, all within a radius of 50 km from the proposed site, all receiving the flows from the three rivers - Periyar, Vaigai and Vaippar. The Idukki Dam on the Periyar River, one of the highest (169 m) arch dams in Asia, located 26 km from the proposed site is "listed as one of the 53 known global examples of reservoir-triggered seismicity".

The 110-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, from which the INO will be drawing 400 m3 of water daily, is at a distance of 50 km from the site. As the hydroelectric projects on these dams account for about two-thirds of the electricity generated in Kerala, more than 30 million people in the two states have a stake in the waters of Idukki. The only requirement for INO is an overburden of a 1000 meters thick rock to filter out the cosmic rays. INO scientists initially sought a site with low seismicity, but finally ended up in a shear zone, with abundantly rich water resources, high population density and extensive agriculture.
3. There are major safety concerns in the INO.

(a) The INO's namesake geotechnical study did not look at the aquifers in the impact area, field visit (of five days) and drilling (four bore holes) were confined to a small area around the portal of project did not characterise the rock along the tunnel or in the main laboratory caverns. This report has been treated as confidential and is not available on the website of INO.

(b) Blasting in the shear zone can damage the underground aquifers and hence impact the flows of water.

(c) Heavy use of novel chemical compounds used for stabilisation etc can poison the groundwater.
(d) As per the EIA about 40% of the impactable area of the project lies in Kerala state.
The project did not receive the approval of the government of Kerala and no public hearing has been conducted in Kerala.

(e) The EIA says that the project area is in seismic zone -2 while it is in zone-3. The project's outreach coordinator had repeated this claim in a discussion at the Cochin University for science and technology.
4. The main concerns are the impacts on quantity and quality of the waters in the aquifers and surface water bodies. 

Tunnelling can rupture underground aquifers and introduce new channels for water to flow.
This flowing water will be laden with toxic chemicals used in plenty in the process of tunnelling. These issues have not been addressed by the INO. The rivers and the dams receive the water stored in aquifers throughout the year. As tunnelling can disrupt the groundwater flows and deplete the aquifers, detailed studies need to be conducted before finalizing such projects. 

The US Free Highway Authority (US FHWA) says that "rocks with weak plains such as shear zones would clearly indicate a potentially significant seismic risk to a tunnel". In a paper published in the journal Engineering Geology, Jorge et al warn that "some of the most disastrous experiences in tunnelling have been the result of interception of large flows of water from highly fractured water-saturated rocks. Draw-downs produced by tunnel construction may induce land subsidence, water table decline and environmental impacts on rivers and wetlands".

5. The proposed site for the INO (77°17'5.32" E 9°56'46.20"N) is located near Pottipuram village, near Thevaram in Theni District. The project site is abutted on the western side by the high ranges of the southern Western Ghats. The major townships around the site are Bodinayakkanur on the north about 18 km away, Theni on the north-eastern side about 35km away, Chinnamannur situated (~25km away) on the south-eastern side and Kambam (~21km away) on the southern side. Pottipuram village is connected to the nearby townships by road. A cart road leads up to the INO portal site. The nearest railhead is at Dindigul or Madurai as the Madurai- Bodinayakkanur. Railway line is dismantled."
6. The portal of the tunnel leading to the caverns will be located nearby Pottipuram Veerappasamy temple while the caverns will be built about 1 km underneath the high hillock of Ambarasakaradu." "The caverns and the tunnel will be located underneath the Bodi-West Reserve Forest area. The 1.75 km long horizontal tunnel cutting through the charnockite rock, slopping down slightly with a gradient of 1:13.5 beneath up to the Kerala state border leads to the laboratory. The caverns are located within Tamil Nadu state." 

7. The INO site selection was not transparent. There are several issues concerning the safety of the people and the Eco-system. 

The key issues of concerns are listed below:

a). VIOLATION OF Federal Principles:
According to DAE, the tunnel will end at the Kerala border and the laboratories (caverns) will be in Tamil Nadu. From the sketch and descriptions given in the project documents, 700 meters of the tunnel and the main cavern and the two smaller ones will be under Kerala. Sanction has been obtained from the Government of Tamil Nadu; Government of Kerala has not even been informed.
b). Since even a hairline crack in the wall (one km wide) or the roof can topple the detector, digging of wells or development projects like irrigation tunnels, mining etc. will have to be banned within a kilometre from the laboratory cave.

c). RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION:
Official studies conducted in US and Europe Papers written by health physicists working with accelerators in Fermilab, CERN etc show the potential of high dose radiation-contamination, hundreds of kilometres away from the factory and detectors. Most of the neutrinos beamed from Chicago will pass through the detector laboratory and emerge through the land above the laboratory. Radioactive particles like carbon14 and tritium will be generated by the hadron shower at the point of emergence and these can travel long distances along with stream and groundwater.
d). IMPACT ON DAMS -
Idukki is a geologically sensitive district with a dozen reservoirs (within 60 km of INO) holding some four billion cubic meters of water which is the lifeline for three districts in Kerala.
Dams can be impacted in two ways: (1) Explosion induced seismicity. The cave making involves removal of 800,000 tons of hard rock with about 5 to 10 lakh kg of explosives,
3 times a day for three-four years. (2) Radioactive contamination of water. If radiation-contamination occurs, the dams will have to be emptied. Farm products can also be contaminated which can cause the collapse of the plantation economy and tourism.

3). ACCIDENTS LIKE BEAM MISDIRECTION.
Under accidental conditions like loss of electricity, beam misdirection is possible. In such cases, if the beam emerges through high-occupancy places like schools can radiate a large number of people who will be harmed.

f). INO's is a part of the US Fermilab project. Its mandate is to provide information on the quality of neutrinos detected at INO to the US lab, more or less like a hospital undertaking drug trials. The project proposal was written by scientists of Fermilab and submitted to the Indian Planning Commission for funding in Feb 2006. US is not likely to share the weapon developed with India. Details of this collaboration with US are not available in any of the document or official websites in India.
g). The idea of using neutrino as a weapon was first floated in 2003 by the scientists from Japan. The existing and the planned research can lead to the weapon. The neutrino weapon issue has not been discussed by the global disarmament community consisting of agencies of the governments/United Nations and also the peace movements. The societal, ethical and other aspects of these studies should be discussed widely.

h). Cave making will generate about one million tons of muck, of which one lakh tons will be in dust form and 10,000 tons in nanometre size. This can contaminate the farmlands and water sources in TN portion.
I have only highlighted the known hazards of neutrinos published by scientists working with the neutrino research establishments. The knowledge about neutrinos is extremely limited. Even though billions of them are flying around, none of them are similar to the factory-produced ones. One does not know if their passage through different layers of earth can cause other major impacts like earthquakes. Because something like this has never happened before. 

There is also a concern that the Department of Atomic Energy may use the underground space for storing their high level radioactive waste from 20+ nuclear power plants. An underground space with more or less unlimited scope for expansion and nobody to monitor is tempting.

i). The most shocking factor points out that this disastrous INO project is a trojan horse to hide enormous quantity of diabolical nuclear waste collected from atomic plants.

j). An argument is floated that INO will provide new revelations about Neutrons which would provide scientific knowledge to carry on further detailed research by the experts and scientists.
k) Nuclear scientists have explained thet Neutrino could be utilised to decommission or explode nuclear bombs anywhere in the world. In that case, INO site in Theni district will become a vulnerable target for other countries to launch nuclear bombs. 

l) Kasthuri Rangan Committee and Gadgil Committee, both submitted reports, stressing the factor that no damage should be done in the Western Ghats.

m) The Western Ghats has been declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is mandatory that no change or disruption to be made in the world heritage site. 

Are the people of Idukki and Theni Districts Guinea pigs to undergo scientific experiments for the benefit of scientific research?

Should the fertile lands, flora and fauna of Idukki and Theni Districts, particularly the most beautiful natural wealth bestowed by the Goddess of nature in the Western Ghats fall prey for the so called Scientific Hunting? 

What sin have the people of Idukki and Theni Districts committed to undergo unbearable hardships and suffering due to the dictatorial decision of the Union Government catering the money hungry economic vultures of Multinationals and Corporates? 

This is the sorrowful sentiment prevailing in the minds and hearts of the people of Theni and Idukki Districts particularly farmers. 

I am happy to inform you that the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court granted stay of the execution of the project of INO on my writ petition, on 26th March 2015.
The project work was stopped since then. But, throwing to winds all the rules of environment and the principles of ethics, Mr. Narendra Modi, the honourable Prime Minister has decided to implement this disastrous projet. 

Hence, the category of the project has been chanaged to suit the ends of the union government, which stated that there is no need for public hearing. 

The ministry of envivonment of the Union Government, I understand, has given further clearance and the honourable Prime Minister is pressuring the Government of Tamilnadu to give clearance of the Tamilnadu Pollution control Board. I am afraid, the Government of Tamilnadu may oblige the dictatorial design of the Honourable Prime Minster. 

It is high time to mobilise the public opinion in Tamilnadu and Kerala against the exection of INO. For this purpose, I have organised a Padayatra from Madurai to Koodaloor covering many villages in and around the proposed site of INO. 

The padayatra will commence by 9.00 a.m. on 31st March 2018, Saturday, and it will be concluded in the evening of 9th April at Cumbam. 

I would request you to come to Madurai to extend your support to commence my padayatra alongwith thousands of farmers. Your presence and support will give momentum, strength and confidence in the minds of the people of Tamilnadu and Kerala and also will enforce the Union Government to cancel the execution of the project. 

I know that it will be a streneous journey for you to reach Madurai. However, considering the importance of the situation, I do hope that you would concede my request to come to Madurai for which the people of Tamilnadu will be much obliged to you. 

With regards,

Yours sincerely,
(Vaiko)
Hon’ble Mr. Achuthanandan,
Chairman, Administrative Reforms Commission
Government of Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram

ஓமன் தமிழர் மறுமலர்ச்சி பேரவை