Panacea for drought- Yogi govt mulls China-type artificial rain technology Yogi govt had engaged IIT Kanpur to develop indigenous technology
Even as the monsoons remain subdued this year with the prospects of deficient rainfall gaining currency, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is gearing up for experimenting with artificial rain technology developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K).The government plans to first test the technology in arid Bundelkhand and Vindhyachal regions after the project gets a go ahead by the chief minister, UP irrigation minister Dharampal Singh told Business Standard. Later, the technology would be utilised in other areas too depending upon its success, he added.IIT-K has already given a presentation over cloud seeding or artificial rain before Singh.
“Our scientists have developed an indigenous technology of artificial rainfall, which is ecological friendly and causes no harm to environment,” he added.He underlined it was the first time an indigenously developed artificial rain technology would be tested in India. "Cloud seeding has been employed in USA, Israel, China, South Africa and some Arab countries. However, the technology developed by IIT Kanpur is not only cheap but conducive to local topography and needs."The project is being piloted by the IIT-K departments of aerospace, civil engineering and industrial management engineering. Cloud seeding is an artificial way to induce moisture in clouds and cause downpour. In such technologies, silver iodide or dry ice is dumped onto clouds by using an aircraft or an artillery gun which results in rains.The institute has evolved a unique protocol about the project with regards to the chemical mix and composition, altitude of chemical spray, monitoring and integrating the whole process to keep cost down and optimise results, IIT-K professor in the aerospace department Ajoy Kanti Ghosh said.However, the state government plans to demonstrate the technology after the monsoon season, so as to deflect any possible criticism of the project taking off during the rainy season. IIT-K would use its own aircraft to demonstrate the technology for the first time.Last year, the Adityanath government had engaged IIT-K to work on the artificial rain project, which could have multiple applications, including facilitating rains in drought hit areas, pockets of acute air pollution etc.While, artificial rain projects have in the past been experimented by a few states, such as Karnataka and Maharashtra, yet it did not meet with much success or found application in agriculture or other sectors. However, the Adityanath government is sanguine about the prospects in UP owing to the changing climatic and weather patterns, wherein forecast about rainfall have at times come a cropper. “The state government is working for the welfare of the farmers and all possible steps that promotes their welfare would be taken,” Singh asserted.He claimed IIT-K scientists had drastically reduced the cost of the project vis-à-vis similar technology available with foreign countries. Cloud seeding over an area of 1,000 sq km would cost nearly Rs 55 million, while comparative foreign technologies cost twice as much, he claimed.Meanwhile, the Institute is awaiting import of a critical component from the US for the project and is expected to arrive in the coming weeks. The project is being funded jointly by the central and state governments.India's neighbour China extensively employs the cloud seeding technology to create rainfall during drought spells with liberal budgetary allocations.