With the monsoon playing truant, the state government is planning to induce rains by carrying out cloud seeding in drought affected areas. Speaking to reporters after a review meeting on the drought situation, Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda said the chief secretary will hold a meeting with officials on the feasibility of cloud seeding.
The government will have to take the approval of the defence and home ministries and the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) and also consider the cost factor. According to experts, cloud seeding is a costly affair. The chief secretary has been asked to conduct a meeting on the subject in one week at which meteorology department officials will give their inputs.
“The rainfall so far is inadequate with a 62 per cent shortfall compared to last year. We have already declared 123 taluks as drought affected. We have asked district officials to send a status report on other taluks on the basis of which we wil decide if more taluks should be included in the drought hit list”, the CM said. He criticized the Union government for adopting a ‘step-motherly’ attitude towards Karnataka while releasing funds for drought relief work.