Maharashtra has been reeling under intense drought conditions for quite some time now. Last year, the state witnessed severe drought after Monsoon.
This year too, the month of April has just started and Maharashtra is observing massive water scarcity.
To ensure that the state does not face the situation like last year, the Maharashtra government is planning to carry out cloud seeding between the months of June and August, i.e. during Monsoon.
Last year in August, a cloud seeding experiment was undertaken. However, it wasn’t that successful due to unavailability of moisture laden clouds as Monsoon was bidding farewell to the country.
This year, the project will start during the Monsoon months to ensure that enough rainfall is observed over the region. This year the focus has shifted towards the western parts of Maharashtra instead of Marathwada as the latter receives about 60 mm rain on an average.
Cloud seeding is only successful when moisture laden clouds are available in abundance. The process is carried out by spreading either silver iodide aerosols or dry ice on the top of the clouds to initiate the rainfall.
These aerosols result in the condensation of moisture into droplets of rain. These drops then fall in the form of rain on the surface of the Erath due to the strong gravitational pull.
Several countries have successfully been able to carry out cloud seeding. For instance, in the United Arab Emirates, 77 cloud seeding operations were carried out during the first three months of the year.
As a result, the region recorded 287 mm of rain on March 9, which is the highest rainfall amount since the year 1977. However, only clouds that were likely to produce rain had been targeted, increasing the chances of heavier rainfall.
Image Credit: dnaindia.com
Story Source: The Times of India
