In the wake of drought like situation in the state,the state government is contemplating on mobilising artificial rains in some parts of the states,especially in drought and catchment areas. The state governments disaster management cell held a meeting with city-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) scientists last week regarding the possibility of such an experiment. The IITM has already undertaken a National Experiment Cloud-Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) to study the rain formation process. Dr J R Kulkarni,programme manager of CAIPEEX confirmed that the state government had convened a meeting last Saturday but did not divulge any details. The invitation had come in the backdrop of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka governments carrying out cloud seeding experiment in July under the guidance of IITM. According to sources,the state government may either carry out cloud seeding experiment on its own as it did in 2003 and IITM will monitor it or it may ask IITM to explore the possibility of artificial rains through the CAIPEEX experiment. The CAIPEEX project,however,is still in the preliminary stage and results are awaited. In the first stage,the scientists are studying which clouds in semi-arid regions of Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka can be used for cloud seeding. Though the experiment will take some time,there is still one month left for the monsoon season to be over. If a definite observations come out,the experiment can be used for cloud seeding, said a senior scientist with CAIPEEX project. Meanwhile,according to recent reports,the cloud seeding experiments (not related to CAIPEEX) that were carried out in Mumbai did not succeeded.
