THE Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has received proposals from five firms showing interest in carrying out artificial rains through cloud seeding in Mumbai. Civic officials have said that each of these bids will now be scrutinised before finalisation of the project. The BMC had on December 1 invited Expression of Interests (EoI), inviting all the firms around the globe who have licensed authorisation for carrying out artificial rains through cloud seeding. The BMC’s move came weeks after chief minister Eknath Shinde said that if the city’s air quality worsens in the city then artificial rains could be carried out to improve the air quality. The last day for submitting the proposals was on December 22. According to BMC's data, a total five firms have submitted their proposals. Out of the five firms, three are based in Bangalore, while one each is based in Navi Mumbai and Karnataka's Gadag district. Civic officials said that currently an assessment study of the pros and cons of cloud seeding is being carried out following which tenders will be floated for appointing one of the firms. "The tenure of the contract will be of three years and during the contractual period we can ask the contractors to carry out cloud seeding whenever it's needed," said an official. Cloud seeding was carried out in Mumbai in 2009 by the Water Supply (WS) department following inadequate rainfall in the catchment area of Tansa Lake, which is one of the seven lakes that supply water to the city. Earlier on December 3, in an interview with The Indian Express, professor Maninder Agarwal from IIT-Kanpur said that the cost of cloud seeding is around Rs 1,00,000 for every square kilometre of clouds seeded. “The contractor will be paid on the basis of the sorties he carries out in his aircraft, the contract will be of three years and during this period seeding could be carried out whenever it is required in Mumbai,” the official said. Cloud seeding is the process of spraying salt mixtures in clouds from the air that would result in condensation of the cloud and eventually cause rainfall, which then washes away the suspended pollutants that linger in the atmosphere, in a similar way how natural rainfall carries out the process of natural cleansing of the environment. The BMC’s proposal of cloud seeding comes as a preparatory measure to tackle the air pollution levels in the city.
