Maharashtra govt to carry out cloud seeding

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday set the ball rolling to undertake cloud seeding in drought-affected areas of the state in August.

Last week, in Cabinet meeting, the Devendra Fadnavis-government approved a plan to undertake cloud seeding in drought-affected areas of Marathwada, Vidarbha and North Maharashtra.

On Wednesday, the Relief & Rehabilitation department invited request for proposal for cloud seeding (artificial rain) operations.

The last date of submission of bids is 12 June, according to Abhay Yawalkar, director, Disaster Management Unit.

The state government intends to study the progress of monsoon in June and July and take a call, however, preparations will be ready, in case the need arises.

In India, cloud seeding was first attempted in 1983 in Tamil Nadu and in 1989 in Kutch. In Mumbai Metropolitan Region it was first attempted in 1992 and then in 1999. In 1994-95, it was attempted in Nashik and Sangli. However, all these were in a low scale.

In 2015, in Maharashtra, the scale was increased, and 47 aerial runs were carried out over drought-affected regions - which led to 1, 300 mm rainfall in some small pockets in Marathwada.

This time around, the Maharashtra government has earmarked Rs 30 crore for the cloud seeding project.