• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

BANGALORE, June 20

KARNATAKA, parched and praying for the south-west monsoon and stricken with drought for the third successive year, has planned to go in for artificial rain by cloud-seeding.

The Water Resources Department earlier this month invited global bids from cloud-seeding operators and has extended the time for bids by ten days till June 26. The operation is estimated to cost the Government Rs 3-5 crore.

The Water Resources Development Organisation, which is handling the tender, says the aerial operation is to be conducted between July and October in various parts of the State. For better results, it should be done simultaneously from two places, preferably with Mysore and Belgaum - or Hubli - as the station.

The situation is rather fluid and the area, extent, timing and duration would be decided in consultation with the Meteorology Department, and Government hopes the seeding will give a good precipitation, WRD engineers said. The southern and interior areas have not had rain while the coastal areas have been much luckier.

Both the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh Governments have used cloud-seeding in the past, but without much success.

With States in the south taking such desperate measures, the situation in the north is even more serious with the monsoons now expected to arrive several weeks late.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Toilet soaps work up 4.5 pc lather in April

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line