Overview
- The government flagged off a specially equipped cloud-seeding aircraft on Friday and granted administrative approval of Rs 28.52 crore for the programme.
- The contract was awarded to Kyathi Climate Modification Consultants LLP with an exemption from the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act.
- A Monitoring Committee led by the Additional Chief Secretary and a Technical Advisory and Evaluation Committee led by the KSNDMC director will review operations and receive updates every two hours.
- Flights will be sent to suitable moisture-bearing clouds identified by Doppler radar, with crews able to release agents such as silver iodide or dry ice; officials say rain may follow within 30 to 60 minutes of a successful sortie.
- The state has declared widespread drought-affected talukas and is racing to store water before the monsoon ends, while earlier cloud-seeding efforts recorded about a 35% success rate and no results from the new campaign have yet been reported.