Cloud seeding answer to water woes

Worried about the low water levels in the lakes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is considering cloud seeding in catchment areas in next month as an option.

However, a similar experiment carried out by the BMC in 2009 with an expenditure of over Rs 8 crore yielded no results. 

Cloud seeding involves spreading either dry ice or silver iodide aerosols on clouds to stimulate the process of precipitation.

According to civic officials, at present, all six lakes supplying water to the city have a collective stock of merely 2,16,915 million litres.

“If the catchment areas receive good rainfall in the next 15 days, then there won’t be water cuts. However, the administration is thinking of cloud seeding as an option,” said mayor Sunil Prabhu.

“As of now, the water available in all six lakes will last another 65 days. We are also looking at other aspects, including the 2009 experiments, to find out what went wrong then and what measures need to be taken,” said a civic official.