India-based Neutrino Observatory

India-based Neutrino Observatory is a proposed experimental project primarily to study Atmospheric Neutrinos. The experiment will consist of a 50 Kilotons of Magnetized Iron Calorimeter with Resistive Plate Camber (RPC) technology as their active elements. The Observatory is a multi-institute collaboration and one of the biggest experimental Particle Physics projects undertaken in India. [cite web
url = http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200505020344.htm
title = India gets ready with ambitious science project
accessdate = 2008-07-12
author = The Hindu
year = 2005] The INO design is mostly based on the Monolith experiment that could not go beyond the proposal Stage. The detector is expected to start collecting data in the year 2012. The project has been hit by lack of skilled man power and opposition by environmentalists. INO has started a Graduate Training Program leading to Ph.D. Degree in High Energy Physics and Astronomy 2008 as a part of the strategy to deal with man power crunch. [cite web
url = http://educationnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2008/03/india-based-neutrino-observatory-ino.html
title = Education updates
accessdate = 2008-08-17
author = Unknown
year = 2008]

The Primary goals of the INO are the following [cite web
url = http://www.imsc.res.in/~ino/OpenReports/INOReport.pdf
title = INO feasibility Study
accessdate = 2008-07-10
author = INO collaboration
year = 2007]

1) Unambiguous and more precise determination of oscillation parameters using atmosphericneutrinos.

2) Study of matter effects through electric charge identification, that may lead to thedetermination of the unknown sign of one of the mass differences.

3) Study of charge-conjugation and parity (CP) violation in the leptonic sector as well aspossible charge-conjugation, parity, time-reversal (CPT) violation studies.

4) Study of Kolar events, possible identification of very-high energy neutrinos and multi-muon events.

History

The possibility of a neutrino observatory located in India was discussed as early as 1989during several meetings held that year. Since then this question come up, off and on,in many discussions. The issue was raised again in the first meeting of the Neutrino physicsand Cosmology working group during the Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology(WHEPP-6) held at Chennai in January 2000 and it was decided then to collate concreteideas for a neutrino detector.Further discussions took place in August 2000 during a meeting on Neutrino Physicsat the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, when a small group of neutrino physicsenthusiasts started discussing the possibilities. The Neutrino 2001 meeting was held in theInstitute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai during February 2001 with the explicit objectiveof bringing the experimentalists and theorists in this field together. The INO collaborationwas formed during this meeting. The first formal meeting of the collaboration was held inthe Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, during September 6 and 7th, 2001at which various subgroups were formed for studying the detector options and electronics,physics goals and simulations, and site survey.In 2002, a document was presented to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Governmentof India, which laid out an ambitious goal of establishing an India-based NeutrinoObservatory outlining the physics goals, possible choices for the detector and their physicsreach. Since then many new and fast paced developments have taken place in neutrinophysics. The award of the Nobel Prize in Physics (2002) to the pioneers in neutrino physicsis a measure of the importance of this field.As a result of the support we have received from various research institutes, universities,the scientific community and the funding agency, the Department of Atomic Energy, aNeutrino Collaboration Group (NCG) was established to study the possibility of building anIndia-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). The collaboration was assigned the task of doingthe feasibility studies for which funds were made available by the DAE. A memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) was signed by the directors of the participatinginstitutes on August 30th 2002 to enable a smooth functioning of the NCG duringthe feasibility period.The NCG has the goal of creating an underground neutrino laboratory with the longterm goal of conducting decisive experiments in neutrino physics as also other experimentswhich require such a unique underground facility.

Location

The location of the site is Singara in the Nilgiri Hills of South India (Lat. North 11.5◦ and Long. East 76.6◦).There are three airports (two international) located at Bangalore, Coimbatore and Calicutwithin a few hours of driving distance. Situated in the southern peninsular shield, the rock is extremely dense, and offers a good tunnelling medium for the creation of an underground facility. The entrance to the portal is next to the entrance to the Pykara Ultimate Stage Hyrdo Electric Project. The INO will tunnel 2.4 Kilometers into the hill to house the project.

This location of the site however, has created an uproar the in the environmental community. Singara is within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), and the access road to the site cuts through a vital elephant corridor that connects the eastern and western ghats. The NBR was the first Biosphere Reserve established in India, declared in September 1986 under UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere program. It does not follow any political borders, and is spread across three state - Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala. It lies between 100 45’N to 12 0 N latitudes and 760 E to 770 15’ E longitudes with a total area of 5520 km2 . There are six protected areas (PAs) within the reserve - The Wynaad Wildlife Sanctuary, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai Tiger Reserves and the Mukurti and Silent Valley National Parks. Large tracts of reserve forests connect these different National Parks and Sanctuaries and form more or less continuous forests from the animal’s point of view. [cite web
url = http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?mode=all&code=IND+01
title = UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserve Directory
author = UNESCO]

The NBR covers only 0.15% of India’s land area but contains 20% of all flowering plants, 15% of all butterflies and 23% of all vertebrates that are found in India. Needless to say that this is now one of the most critical habitats for a host of endangered species. These 5500 odd square kilometres now forms one of the largest contiguous forests in Asia, and has recently been recognised as an important ‘biodiversity hotspot’. This wealth of biological diversity is matched by the diversity both linguistic and cultural of local communities. [cite web
url = http://www.nbralliance.wordpress.com/ino-at-singara/
title = INO at Singara
author = NBR Alliance]

Many environmentalists believe such a huge project in the middle of this sensitive zone could have disastrous effects on the wildlife populations. [cite web
url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2008/06/29/stories/2008062950300800.htm
title = Tiger vs Science
accessdate = 2008-06-29
author = The Hindu
year = 2008]

Design

The INO detector consists of 6cm thick Iron plates as passive material, with RPCs in between as active material.

=Opposition and Collateral Da

Several environmental groups and NGOs have opposed the construction of INO in a sanctuary. This includes among others:WWF India,The Nilgiri Wildlife and Environmental Association (The oldest conservation organisation in India) and The Tamilnadu Green Movement. The Alliance of Conservation and People's Organisations working the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR Alliance), which includes the above organisations, has also taken up the issue.

A quick run through the INO website gives the impression that everything is under control – there is not going to be any serious environmental damage. But claims to transparency have been glazed over by their refusal to make public important documents - like the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Environment Management Plan (EMP) - even to serious, established environmentalists like the WWF and Nilgiri Wildlife Environmental Association. This lack of transparency casts a shadow of doubt over all the claims made by the scientists and the long-term motives of the project. Since it is a scientific project without commercial gain, an EIA and EMP is recommended - but not mandatory. But since the size of the project exceeds 20,000 cubic metres, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) requires an EIA. So, somewhere behind all this confusion, the INO team is hiding the EIA and EMP. The project has been given the green light from the MoEF - so these documents ought to be in the public domain. The [FAQ] [http://www.imsc.res.in/~ino] website makes lots of apparently sincere claims - but none are backed by hard facts or significant information.

The iron and other equipment weighing more than 100,000 tons will be transported to the site by trucks from Mysore, which is the nearest railway link. Added to that about 37,000 tons of construction material. Since the project is scheduled to take 4 years to complete, this translates to 130 truck trips everyday, passing through two tiger reserves (The Bandipur Tiger Reserve and The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve).There is a concern that this will have a drastic effect on the fragile tiger and elephant populations.

However many trucks there are, they will use a road that cuts through a crucial elephant corridor connecting the Eastern and the Western Ghats. Elephants are long-ranging beasts and migrate over great distances. The migratory paths are passed on genetically, and are not easily re-learned. The INO website claims to employ trackers to monitor elephant movements and regulate construction as necessary. But no biologist has yet managed to convince the elephants to put in their travel itineraries in advance. There are 25 female elephants to every male, with the males being poached for ivory. All calves in a herd are now likely to have the same father. Conservationists are concerned about the limited gene pool and possible in-breeding. Cutting off migratory paths will only add to the pressure. [cite web
url = http://www.newint.org/features/special/2008/08/04/tigers-neutrinos/index.php
title = Tiger vs Neutrinos
accessdate = 2008-08-04
author = The New Internationalist
year = 2008]

The conservationists all still demanding that the EIA of the project be put into the public domain, so that the real damage that is going to be caused in the area can be assessed. But this still has not happened.

Participating Institutes

Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai

Calcutta University (CU), Kolkata

Delhi University (DU), Delhi

Harish Chandra Research Institute (HRI), Allahabad

University of Hawaii (UHW), Hawaii

Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), Mumbai

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam

Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai

Institute of Physics (IOP), Bhubaneswar

North Bengal University (NBU), Siliguri

Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh

Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), Kolkata

Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Sikkim

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.imsc.res.in/~ino/ India-based Neutrino Observatory Official Page]
* [http://www.hecr.tifr.res.in/~ino/ INO page at TIFR]
* [http://nbralliance.wordpress.com/ino-at-singara/ INO page on the NBR Alliance blog]