Karnataka to launch cloud seeding campaign to combat rainfall deficit

The Karnataka government is preparing to launch a cloud seeding campaign to combat the state's rainfall deficit. Water Resources Minister N. Cheluvaraswamy announced that the operation could begin within two days.

To manage the initiative, the government will establish three specialized committees: a monitoring committee led by the Additional Chief Secretary, a technical committee featuring experts from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and a field operation and evaluation committee.

The project is estimated to cost approximately 27 crore rupees and is expected to last for 60 days, utilizing roughly 200 flight hours. The campaign will be conducted by the Water Resources Department across the state's four revenue divisions. Officials noted that while previous attempts had success rates between 18 and 20 percent, a 30 percent success rate would be considered a significant achievement. The operation will be carried out daily from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, contingent upon the availability of suitable cloud cover.