Karnataka, facing deficit monsoon, is set to take up cloud seeding to pre-empt water scarcity. The ₹27-crore initiative is expected to take off in three days with the technical and administrative decks cleared on Tuesday.

According to Major Irrigation Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, the exercise will comprise 200 flying hours spread over 60 days in areas where there is thick cloud density. The exercise will be undertaken between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., he noted.

Optimal window

He said September would provide the most optimal window to take up cloud seeding as it would offer dense cloud cover required for seeding. Cloud volume would generally drop significantly by October, he pointed out.

He recalled that Karnataka had previously undertaken cloud-seeding exercise on three occasions. The State had recorded an average success rate ranging between 18% and 20%. However, the proposed initiative was targeting 30% success rate.

Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy said cloud seeding would be taken up across all four revenue divisions of the State. The cloud seeding flights were designed to induce precipitation within an estimated 15-km radius of the targeted seed area. They would be dynamically routed across regions based on real-time cloud density and atmospheric conditions, he said.

He said though some quantum of rainfall has ben recorded in different parts of the State, weather forecast had indicated lack of sustained, continuous monsoon activity, necessitating artificial precipitation measures to avert water crises.

Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy said the government had constituted separate committees to execute the exercise. While the monitoring committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary to the Water Resources Department would oversee policy execution, inter-departmental coordination, and overall governance, a technical committee comprising scientists and experts from IISc, IIT, and IMD would monitor meteorological parameters and radar tracking. A field operation and evaluation committee would look into managing daily flight sorties, seeding dispersal protocols, and ground-level rainfall impact assessment, he said.