Cloud seeding in 12 districts

Hyderabad, July 18 :-

The cloud seeding experiment ‘Megha Madanam’ would be carried out in and around the catchment areas of reservoirs over 12 districts, which had recorded scanty rainfall, said the Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Talking to media persons on Saturday, the Chief Minister said that lack of rain in the State has resulted in a loss of about Rs 10,000 crores every year for the past four years.

He told that it was an experiment conducted with all the sincerity that the Government could muster for bringing rain and relief to farmers.

In Karnataka out of 90 days of cloud seeding, it rained on 59 days, he said. "After all, considering that we have a budget of Rs. 52,000 crores, what is Rs 10 or Rs 15 crores," he asked.

According to a representative of Agni Aviation Consultants, the contractor for the operation, with the help of two radars at JNTU in the city and in Anantapur district, the aircraft will be sent into the clouds and flares containing calcium chloride will be burnt to condense the clouds and cause rainfall. The cloud seeding will take place for 120 days from July to November.

The cloud-seeding operation will not create rain or clouds but will only enhance the chances/percentage for it.

Cloud Seeding is a technology that has evolved in the past half century to mitigate to a certain extent the problems of water, the Consultants said.