Newly appointed irrigation minister N Cheluvarayaswamy announced that cloud seeding will begin in September and continue for close to 60 days across all four revenue divisions.
On Tuesday, newly appointed irrigation minister N Cheluvarayaswamy announced that cloud seeding will begin in September and continue for close to 60 days across all four revenue divisions. He announced that the government will immediately form monitoring, technical and field operations committees to begin the process for cloud seeding.
The total cost of the cloud seeding is expected to be approximately Rs 27 crore, with the government likely to skip the tendering process and secure a 4G exemption under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act.
The minister said the decision has been taken to “effectively tackle the prevailing rainfall deficit and pre-empt the possible water scarcity across the state. The minister said the monitoring committee will be headed by additional chief secretary and development commissioner Uma Mahadevan to oversee policy execution, inter-departmental coordination and overall governance. “Regardless of the financial cost to the exchequer, the state government has prioritised securing uninterrupted drinking water supply to citizens and livestock,” he said.
BENGALURU: With the monsoon having failed majorly over south Karnataka, the state government has decided to go for cloud seeding in the state.