Cloud seeding during Congress rule to be probed: AP minister

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to investigate cloud seeding exercises undertaken by the state's earlier Congress government, state Agriculture Minister Prattipati Pulla Rao said here today.

He told reporters that the previous Congress government spent Rs 120 crore for cloud seeding, while another Rs 40 crore were yet to be paid to a private firm which was roped in for the artificial rain-inducing project.

Either the state Anti-Corruption Bureau or the CBI would probe the matter, Rao said.

He alleged that present Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president N Raghuveera Reddy's role in the cloud seeding exercise has to come to light.

Reddy was agriculture minister in the earlier Congress government and he had initiated cloud seeding projects in Rayalaseema district.