Telangana state to revive YSR’s cloud seeding

Hyderabad: With severe drought conditions prevailing across Telangana state in the ongoing Kharif season due to deficit rainfall of over 50 per cent, the state government is looking at cloud seeding to artificially induce rains. The former YSR government in the undivided state had opted for the cloud seeding project called Megha Madhanam, but the project became controversial with the Opposition parties alleging siphoning off funds by YSR and his ministers. Finally, the project did not yield any positive result.

Facing deficit of rainfall this year, Telangana officials have sought a report on cloud seeding from JNTU-H, which had earlier been assigned the task.
JNTU had launched the cloud seeding project in 2005. Two radars were set up on JNTU campuses located in Hyderabad and Anantapur to study the condition of clouds to take up cloud seeding.

The then government had spent nearly Rs 20 crore each year on the project till 2007. Though JNTU had claimed that the project was successful with improvement in rainfall, where cloud seeding was done, it invited the wrath of the Opposition parties, which alleged that YSR and his ministers siphoned off the money allotted to the project.

The Opposition leaders used to say that the cloud seeding project benefited only Congress leaders as it rained money on them. Dismissing these allegations, YSR had decided to implement the cloud seeding project for five years continuously from 2007 to 2012 and allotted Rs 20 crore every year in the state Budget. However, the project was shelved midway after YSR’s demise in 2009.

The TS government now plans to revive this project to save the kharif season, hit by deficit rainfall. With only one-and-a-half month left for the Kharif crop and hardly any rains in the past two-and-a-half months, the government stepped up efforts following directives from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

“The Chief Minister has asked us to explore the possibilities of taking up cloud seeding for artificial rains to overcome deficit rainfall. Officials are consulting JNTU to submit a report on the modalities of the project and the expenditure to be incurred for the purpose,” said irrigation minister T. Harish Rao.

Mr Rao added that this time, the government will not provide any scope for misuse of funds and transparent procedures will be adopted in implementing the project.