The Hindu Business Line : AP clocks 8% rise in rainfall due to cloud seeding

Hyderabad, Oct. 18 A 90-day cloud seeding programme in Andhra Pradesh during the monsoon has resulted in 7,500 mm of rainfall in 12 districts of the State, according to officials.

While the total rainfall between July 16 and October 13 was estimated to be about 50,000 mm, rain due to cloud seeding, at modest estimates, could be at 15 per cent, Mr I.V. Murali Krishna, Director and Coordinator, Cloud Seeding Operations, Government of Andhra Pradesh, told newspersons here on Tuesday.

“The seeding activities, carried out in these 90 days created an average rainfall of about 20 mm in each of the 550 mandals in the State. About 22 tmc of water was generated out of this rain. This marks an 8 per cent increase in rainfall due to cloud seeding during the same period last year,” he said.

There could be more rain in the State as seeding activity would be continued for another 30 days, he added.

Attributing the increase in rainfall to adoption of superior and appropriate technologies, Mr Murali Krishna said a new technology based on warm cloud seeding had been adopted in the State. “Till recently, the technology which was suitable for cold cloud seeding (suitable for countries like the US) was applied for warm cloud seeding. We have corrected this anomaly and there were better results,” he claimed.

On the authenticity of rainfall calculations, he said the process was transparent and fool-proof. “Anybody can test this. In fact, if we go by American methods of calculations, we have to say that up to 80 per cent of total rainfall during the period under study was due to seeding activity. But, we are only placing the contribution of cloud seeding at a modest 15 per cent,” he said.

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