THENI: Hundreds of people from in and around Pottipuram village where the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is to come up staged a protest by cooking pongal and staging street plays against the project near the site on Saturday.

The villagers said they had initially decided to allow the laboratory to come up in their vicinity because they thought they would be helping in the nation's development. "But our village leaders have been participating in many meetings related to this project and have seen that the scientists are not answering the questions of the people opposing it with proper facts," said Karuppiah from Chinna Pottipuram.

They said they were grateful to MDMK leader Vaiko for opening their eyes to the detrimental effects of the project. "Last time, when he came here, he explained to us how our lands would be destroyed and even grass wouldn't grow on our lands once the project begins. That is a scary thing to even think of because we depend on our cattle for our livelihood," said Periyannan, a villager.

Elderly villagers said they had started losing sleep over the project. They are happy that the court has granted them some relief by stalling the works temporarily. "We will continue to fight against it, with more aggression," said Sethuraman, a college student.

Villagers dressed in colourful costumes staged small street shows to talk about the dangers of the project. They used Kudankulam as an example. "We know people there are fighting against nuclear power. Now we are also facing the same situation," a villager said.

Village elders said that they planned to intensify their stir. If the government did not heed to their demand and stop the work immediately, they would return all government-given documents like voter IDs and ration cards and let nature decide their fate, they said.

