Bengaluru, 4 September

The State government on Friday launched a Rs 28.52 crore 60-day cloud seeding project to tackle the rain deficit in Karnataka and avert a possible water crisis.

Water Resources Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy flagged off a special light aircraft equipped for cloud seeding operations at the HAL airport in Bengaluru.

“The monsoon season will end by this month. If adequate drinking water is not stored by then, we could face severe scarcity until the end of June next year,” Chaluvarayaswamy said.

“Cloud seeding operations conducted earlier had a success rate of about 35 per cent. We are not concerned about the financial burden on the government; protecting the interests of the State and its people is our priority,” he added.

No districts have been earmarked in advance for the operations. Based on continuous technical reports, aircraft will be deployed wherever suitable clouds are detected over rain-deficit areas, catchment areas of major reservoirs and districts facing agricultural distress. Weather data will be updated every two hours.

The operation is also being jointly implemented by the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL) under the Water Resources Department and the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) under the Revenue Department.

The contract was awarded to M/s Kyathi Climate Modification Consultants LLP, exempting it from the provisions of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act.

Karnataka is facing a rain deficit of around 30 per cent, with over 100 taluks declared by the State government has drought hit.