As the monsoon continues to play truant, drought-stricken Karnataka has begun cloud seeding to enhance precipitation across the State. The cloud-seeding operation was launched from the HAL Airport in Bengaluru on Thursday by the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department and trials were carried out over Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts.

From Monday, cloud seeding will be carried out for about 90 days from two locations, Mysuru and Hubballi, said GN Srinivas Reddy, Director of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre. Radars to identify rain-bearing clouds are being set up in Bengaluru, Gadag and Surpur in Yadgir district.

The target areas for cloud seeding will be identified based on factors such as rainfall deficit and moisture deficiency, cloud formation and data generated by the radars, Reddy said. “Conditions are now favourable for cloud seeding,” he added.

So far, the progress of monsoon in Karnataka has not been satisfactory, Reddy said. While half of the State has received normal rains, there is deficit in the remaining areas. Cumulative rainfall across Karnataka this monsoon season has witnessed a deficiency of 19 per cent till date. The Malnad region that consists of Western Ghats has the highest deficit of 33 per cent, while the shortfall in the drought-prone North Interior Karnataka is at 21 per cent. The deficit in Coastal Region and South Interior Karnataka is estimated at 16 per cent each.

Karnataka had previously carried out cloud seeding in 2017. “Third-party evaluation of the cloud seeding exercise during 2017 had revealed that there was 27 per cent enhancement of rains,” Reddy added.

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