Karnataka Launches ₹28.52 Crore Cloud-Seeding Amid Drought
· India · The Hindu, Deccan Herald, deccanherald
Karnataka launched a cloud-seeding programme at Bengaluru's HAL airport on Friday to trigger rainfall in drought-hit districts, with Water Resources Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy flagging off a specially equipped light aircraft. The project is estimated to cost ₹28.52 crore, and the state acknowledged that a previous cloud-seeding effort had only a 35% success rate. The southwest monsoon is set to end this month, and the minister warned of severe drinking water scarcity until next June if reserves are not built up. A technical advisory committee will direct aircraft to rainfall-deficit zones and reservoir catchments using Doppler radar. Silver iodide, potassium iodide, dry ice, and sodium chloride will be used to seed warm and cold clouds.
Why it matters
Millions of Karnataka residents and farmers face potential water scarcity and crop failure if the cloud-seeding fails to deliver rains before the monsoon window closes.
Read the original report — The Hindu
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