HYDERABAD: Farmers in 10 districts where cloud-seeding operations are on, can now contact Helpline on toll-free number 1100 if they sight clouds, which appear to be rain-bearing, so that they can be precipitated immediately through aerial seeding.

They can also contact JNTU's Centre for Atmospheric Sciences and Weather Modification Technologies (CASWMT) on 9848049624. However, the information must reach early so that cloud-seeding aircraft have sufficient time to take off and chase the rain-bearing clouds.

Experts at CASWMT crosscheck the information, locate the place with radars at Hyderabad and Anantapur before ordering one of the two aircraft, now on sorties for 15 days, to take off. The districts covered by the operations are Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar, Kurnool, Anantapur, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Kadapa and Chittoor.

Success rate

According to I. V. Murali Krishna, CASWMT director overseeing the Rs 15-crore exercise, the planes have fired 47 flares so far to precipitate the clouds, and 43 of them have yielded results, a success rate of 90 per cent.

He said seeding had enhanced rainfall in the area by 15-20 per cent. The operations had yielded additional water of 3.15 tmcft (thousand million cubic metres) compared to 46 tmcft for the entire last year. This is equal to full storage in Himayathsagar. About 450 mm out of 3,059 mm of rainfall recorded in the areas covered has been attributed to cloud seeding.

Mr Murali Krishna said water samples were collected from different places and tested for the flare material used, calcium chloride, before establishing the rainfall claim by the contractors. The operations would continue till mid-December.

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