Drought-hit Maharashtra plans cloud-seeding

MUMBAI: Unwilling to take any chances with rainfall this year, the Maharashtra government plans to undertake cloud-seeding in parts of the state at the start of monsoon, especially over water supply schemes that provide water to the parched Marathwada region.

The experiment was conducted last year between August and November, but officials say the project wasn't very effective as there weren't enough moisture-laden clouds and it was only the receding monsoon that they could tap at that time. The government has learnt its lesson and decided to start the cloud-seeding programme this year right at the beginning of the season in June and continue till August.

Cloud-seeding is a process to augment rainfall by spreading either dry ice (or more commonly silver iodide aerosols) into the upper part of clouds to try to stimulate the precipitation process and form rain.

Officials added that the artificial rain exercise was conducted over Marathwada last year, but since the normal average rainfall the region receives is 60-80mm, this year they will focus on western Maharashtra where the average rainfall is 1200mm.