The Karnataka government will consider a proposal to carry out cloud seeding in the State in the wake of forecast of cloudy weather conditions over the next three to four days, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar assured the Legislative Assembly on December 8.
Prakash Koliwad, Congress MLA from Ranebennur in Haveri district, raised the issue during Zero Hour in the Legislative Assembly. Mr Shivakumar, who also holds the water resources portfolio, said he was ‘positive’ about carrying out cloud seeding, but will have to discuss the technical details, including tender procedures, with officials.
Earlier experiments
He acknowledged that previous experiments with cloud seeding in different parts of Karnataka had yielded positive results, and the government is inclined to consider such a proposal again for the benefit of the State’s farmers.
“Though the expenditure on cloud seeding is not much, we will have to follow a suitable process to avoid complaints of nepotism from the opposition,” the Deputy CM said.
Karnataka is passing through a severe drought with the failure of the south-east monsoon. The government had declared a drought in 220 out of the 236 taluks in the State.
MLA offers to do cloud seeding at his own expense
Mr Koliwad said the prediction of cloudy weather was for the next three to four days, and the opportunity to take up cloud seeding will be lost if a decision is not taken at the earliest.
On hearing the response from the Deputy CM about the decision-making process, the MLA offered to take up cloud seeding at his own cost if the government is facing hurdles in taking a decision. “If the government cannot carry out cloud seeding, please get me the necessary permission from the Chief Secretary. I will carry it out,” the MLA said.
The Ranebennur MLA’s demand was supported by Congress MLA from Navalgund Kona Reddy, who recalled that the State Government had conducted cloud seeding when H.K. Patil served as Minister for Irrigation, and got good results.
