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Maharashtra plans cloud seeding if dry spell continues

The official said that while 228 talukas in Maharashtra had seen rainfall below 25% of the average, 29 talukas had seen between 25 to 30% rainfall. The number of talukas which received between 50 to 75% rains was 27.

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With the rain gods unwilling to smile on Maharashtra after a wet spell last month, the state government is planning to begin its cloud seeding experiment from August if the trend of deficit rainfall continues.

"We are planning to begin the cloud seeding and artificial rain project in August in case the dry spell continues," a senior state government official told dna. The official added that the contractor would provide a plane for cloud seeding and this would be based at Aurangabad. A C-band doppler radar, which can predict weather and precipitation for an over 250km radius, will also be set up.

Cloud seeding involves introducing dry ice or silver iodide into clouds to aid precipitation and rainfall.

"The aircraft will be based at Aurangabad, which will also help us cover parched areas like Solapur, Sangli, Satara, Latur, Osmanabad and Beed," the official said, adding that the radar would help indicate "the accurate movement of clouds with their depth and moisture content". The sorties will be made in consultation with scientists from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).

The official said that while 228 talukas in Maharashtra had seen rainfall below 25% of the average, 29 talukas had seen between 25 to 30% rainfall. The number of talukas which received between 50 to 75% rains was 27.

Districts like Buldhana, Yavatmal, Parbhani, Nanded, Osmanabad and Solapur have seen deficient rainfall in June.

The project will cost around Rs28 crore, including the cost of 100 flying hours, pilot, technicians, meteorologists, flares, radar and consumables. The state had floated the cloud seeding idea to serve as an ameliorative measure in case there was a dry spell or deficient rains. The official pointed out that the money spent on inducing rains was much less than the funds used for providing relief to drought affected areas.

The Maharashtra government has also been approached by experts who are willing to carry out an experiment to induce rain using sugar propelled rockets.

The state has experimented with cloud seeding and artificial rainfall in the past. In 2003, like neighbouring Karnataka, the Maharashtra government approved a project covering parched areas like Satara, Solapur, Pune, Sangli and Ahmednagar. The BMC conducted a cloud seeding experiment in 2009. The Andhra Pradesh government has also conducted these operations in the past. Cloud seeding experiments have also been conducted in Maharashtra in the 1970s and 1980s.

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