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INDIA MAY OPT FOR CLOUD-SEEDING

Posted in S. Asia

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Published on June 05, 2015 with No Comments

“The costs involved in inducing artificial rains will be much less compared to this. In addition, making water available will also mean that we can prevent farmers’ suicides” 

At a time when the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has revised its rainfall forecast from 93 to 88 per cent, the Maharashtra government is preparing to use the cloud seeding method and induce rainfall to cope up with water shortage.

According to K H Govindraj, secretary, relief and rehabilitation department, the state government has floated tenders for cloud seeding that will be kept ready if the monsoon fails or is below the required levels.“If the monsoon fails, we need to have a contingency plan ready to make water available. Thus, we are not only looking at domestic but also international agencies that can help us with cloud seeding,“ Govindraj told media in Mumbai.Govindraj said, “The cost may run into a few crores but money is not the only factor that we are looking at. The state government anyway had to announce a financial package of Rs 4,000 crore to help distressed farmers.

Recent statistics by the state agriculture department also showed that 2014 had an increasing number of dry spell days during monsoon and the total rainfall received in Maharashtra was 70.2 per cent. Also, out of the total 355 talukas of the state, 226 had received below average rainfall.

 

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