The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Rs. 25 crore for cloud-seeding

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Sunday, Jul 19, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Rs. 25 crore for cloud-seeding

Special Correspondent

Agni Aviation to conduct the operations for 120 days

HYDERABAD: The State government finally cleared the decks for the proposed cloud-seeding operations on Saturday when it approved a budget of Rs. 25 crore, selecting Agni Aviation, Bangalore, to conduct the experiment.

Secrecy maintained

The orders issued to undertake the heavy-budget operations through this company have been kept a closely guarded secret. The orders were found missing from the website concerned by evening although they were displayed earlier.

However, R. S. Goel, principal secretary, Rain Shadow Areas Development, who could be contacted by this correspondent , said Agni Aviation has been selected by the tender committee comprising technical experts, scientists and weathermen, apart from officials.

He said the operations would commence on July 20 or 21 with the help of two radars installed at Hyderabad and Anantapur, and three Cessna planes (instead of two last year).

The experiment would be conducted for 120 days up to November-end spanning both South-West and North-East monsoons over 12 districts — Anantapur, Mahabubnagar, Kadapa, Kurnool, Chittoor, Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Guntur and Prakasam.

Apart from the Centre of Atmospheric Sciences & Weather Modifications, JNTU, the Anantapur branch of JNTU has been asked to oversee the experiment this time.

Cost-wise, a sum of Rs. 6 crore will be paid each towards hiring charges of radars and Rs. 13 crore for the aircraft. The government would foot the fuel bill while chemicals for cloud-seeding and other consumables would be supplied by the agency.

The State has suffered a rainfall deficit of over 36 per cent so far. Drought is staring at some districts, where sowing remained sluggish. The government is going ahead with the experiment for the sixth consecutive year this year.

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