Artificial Rains: Raj Agri Min to meet Aviation Minister Naidu for permission to fly high drones for cloud seeding

Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena has sought intervention from Civil Aviation Minister K R Naidu regarding permission from the Aviation Ministry for flying drones at a height of 10,000 metres for cloud seeding to induce artificial rains over the Ramgarh Dam near Jaipur in Rajasthan.

This is the first experiment in the country in which drones will be used for cloud seeding for inducing artificial rain. The drones are required to attain a height of 10,000 metres, Dr Meena said, adding that the Civil Aviation Ministry’s permission will be required for flying drones up to 10,000 metres.

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Dr Meena said he, along with American climate engineering company “Accel1”, is going to meet Civil Aviation Minister Naidu to get the permission from the Ministry.

The preparatory drill for artificial rain through cloud seeding has been attempted since August 12, but without success so far.

This drill is part of a pilot project to explore the viability of inducing rains through cloud seeding over the dam, which has remained dry for the past 20 years.

The attempt to induce rain was initially scheduled for July 30 but was later deferred to August 12, when large crowds of spectators gathered at the venue. Conflicting mobile phone signals from the spectators disrupted the drone’s connectivity, causing the US company’s bid to fail last Tuesday.

Again, attempts were made on Saturday and Sunday (August 16 and 17). On Saturday, an exploratory drone was flown over Ramgarh Dam to assess meteorological conditions and collect data. Scientists of the “Accel1” and officials of the Agriculture Department flew a drone over Ramgarh Dam for 35 minutes. The drone covered a 25-km area to help scientists assess climatic conditions and related data.

On Sunday, too, attempts to fly the drone were made; however, the bid did not succeed, as the drone fell in an agricultural field.

The first artificial rain in India was induced in Kerala using an aircraft for cloud seeding. The use of drones for this purpose is being tried here for the first time in the country.