THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: TRUANT rain gods have now prompted drought-affected Kerala to seriously consider cloud seeding as a method to stimulate rainfall. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the state government’s intention in this regard in the Assembly on Tuesday saying, “we can also try it.”
“Cloud seeding is found to be partially successful in India and abroad. It is a scientific attempt to increase precipitation. It has been successfully tested in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. We can also try it,” the Chief Minister said.
The sudden interest in seeding clouds to make rainfall, apparently, stems from the recent news reports of successful cloud-seeding operations carried out in the UAE. The Chief Minister’s announcement received ample support from the Opposition, with an enthusiastic Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala drawing attention to its success rate abroad and in various Indian states.
He also urged the government to try out other options such as desalination of sea water.
Simply put, cloud seeding is a method of stimulating precipitation by ‘seeding’ clouds with chemicals like silver iodide, dry ice or potassium iodide.