In view of the delayed monsoon and several areas hit by severe drought, the state government has decided to carry out cloud seeding from last week of July in some parts of western Maharashtra. A senior government official said that the cabinet has approved Rs 30 crore for cloud seeding this year. Shrirang Gholap, joint secretary of state Relief and Rehabilitation department said, "The cloud seeding will start from July-end and go on till August end. We have issued tenders. The technical bid will open on June 13 while financial bidding will be finalised on June 15. We hope there will be 30% to 40% enhancement in rainfall," Gholap said. He said that a similar exercise was carried out in 2015 for Rs 27 crore. "There was 18% to 20% enhancement in the rainfall. The cloud seeding was done in the catchment areas of reservoirs. This time too, we will do the cloud seeding in Marathwada, Vidarbha and some part of western Maharashtra." Gholap said. The operation centre for cloud seeding will be Aurangabad, from where all artificial rain activities will be carried out. "We have kept the C band doppler radar and plane in Aurangabad," Gholap added. An official privy to the development said that the government's top priority is to fill the reservoirs to tackle the drought. "The expenditure on fodder camps and water tankers is Rs 10 crore. If cloud seeding is successful then in Rs 30 crore we will able to meet all demands and save Rs 250-300 crore that is likely to be spent on drought relief work," the official said. The cloud seeding exercise is carried out extensively in the Middle East, Australia and China. "After all, we need water to survive. If the clouds are not able to give natural rains then we must use the available technology for artificial rainfall. This year, the monsoon is delayed. Even if we get less water, it will be stored in the small and big check dams that are developed through the Jalyukt Shivar programme," the official said. What A Spell This time the cloud seeding exercise will be carried out in Marathwada, Vidarbha and some part of western Maharashtra The Maharashtra cabinet has approved Rs 30 crore for cloud seeding this year What is cloud seeding

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