In India there is an artificial rain technique that is used only in extreme cases: Rijiju

India said today that it has the technology to provide artificial rain through cloud seeding, but will “use it only in extreme circumstances” because such an attempt could have negative effects on the climate elsewhere. However, the government has made it clear that the focus will be on climate change over the next five years. International Earth Science Minister Kiren Rijiju shared in New Delhi on Tuesday to mark the 150th anniversary of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), “The system/technology is available. How to use it, where to use it, what we have. Guess that there is a drought somewhere, then you might think that this will be available. Even where there are floods, you can suppress the rain.The minister also said that since it is a very technical subject, the use of technology is also a big issue. “When I use the word weather control, it is playing with nature. But if it is critical for the survival of humanity, it can be used. The weather system is so sensitive that if you want to regulate the monsoon flow here, it can cause desertion elsewhere. We really need to think about morality.

Focus on change

Discussing cloud seeding technology, earth science secretary M Ravichandran said a policy is needed as artificial rain means someone gains and someone loses speed and time. “Should we do (artificial rain), how much should we do, where should we do it, the things we should do”, Ravichandran said. In the next five years, according to him, the focus will be on climate change.A cloud seeding experiment conducted by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) at Solapur, Maharashtra recorded 384 mm of rainfall in 2018 and 422 mm in 2019 during the monsoon season (June-September), the 18th relative. Two hours after cloud seeding, a relative increase in accumulated precipitation was observed. The main objective was to investigate the effectiveness of hygroscopic seeding in deep convective clouds and to develop a cloud seeding protocol. The experiment used two aircraft to study different cloud parameters and seed clouds. The study found that cloud seeding is an effective strategy to increase rainfall under suitable conditions in the region. 

Monsoon Mission 

Speaking at the event, IMD Director General M Mohapatra said that since the launch of Monsoon Mission in 2012, which aims to make accurate forecasts in the short, medium and long term, it is able to provide more accurate monthly forecasts for various geographical areas. during the season.”In the past, there was only one forecast for the rainfall value of the entire season. Since then, we now (starting in 2021) publish a monthly forecast for each state and even for different regions of the state. All this development is possible thanks to the Monsoon Mission. There will definitely be new products as IMD has shifted from a statistical model to a dynamic model,” Mohapatra said.Rijiju also said there is a need to set up more observatories for better weather forecasting, including extreme rainfall like in Tamil Nadu. He said Tamil Nadu usually gets heavy rains in December but no measures were taken to prevent such heavy rain. “We just have to remain vigilant and take steps to avoid loss of life,” the minister said.

No forecast for TN floods

Ravichandran said no weather forecast model predicted the 90 cm rainfall seen on December 17-18 in Kayalpatnam municipality of Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu. Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts are also experiencing severe Tenak and Kanyakumari  that efforts are being made to improve weather forecasts by installing a new high-capacity computer system and adding more observations from various weather stations..

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