BENGALURU: The State Government launched its ambitious cloud-seeding programme aimed at addressing rainfall deficit and mitigating the possibility of water scarcity in the state.
Water Resources Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy on Friday launched the Rs 28.52 crore programme at the HAL airport in Bengaluru by flagging off a special light aircraft equipped for cloud-seeding operations.
He said that Karnataka has received deficient rainfall this year and warned that the state could face severe drought in the coming days. He expressed hope that the cloud-seeding initiative would help augment rainfall and ease water scarcity in the state. Addressing the media after the launch, he said the exact extent of the possible drought cannot be assessed at this stage and added: “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.” He said that the earlier cloud seeding operations had a success rate of 35 per cent and that that government’s only objective was that people should benefit from the initiative and not the loss or gain.
The initiative, which is 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, has received administrative approval of Rs 28.52 crore, excluding GST.
Two committees have been constituted to monitor the programme. Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner will head a monitoring committee that will oversee and review the implementation of the project.
An eight-member Technical Advisory and Evaluation Committee headed by KSNDMC Director will provide technical guidance and update information on the operations and its impact every two hours.