IIT-Kanpur Successfully Conducts Test-Flight For Cloud Seeding

The Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur (IIT-K) has successfully conducted a test-flight for cloud seeding. The project was initiated at the institute a few years ago and is headed by Prof. Manindra Agrawal of its Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department.

The Uttar Pradesh government had in 2017 turned to the premier institute for this technology to help the State's parched Bundelkhand region with artificial rains. It took IIT-Kanpur six years to make this happen. China had agreed to do it in Mahoba for Rs 10.3 lakh per km but refused to share the know-how, so the plan was shelved.

Yesterday's experiment was conducted with due approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Cloud seeding involves the utilization of various chemical agents such as silver iodide, dry ice, common salt and other elements with the aim of enhancing the probability of precipitation.

As part of the experiment, a Cessna aircraft was flown from the Flight Laboratory of IIT-Kanpur with cloud seeding attachments. These attachments were procured from a manufacturer in the US and the modifications in the aircraft were approved both by the manufacturers of Cessna and DGCA. The test-flight spread the agents using a flare as is standard practice.

"We are glad that our trial run for cloud seeding came out successful. We did not fire the flares into the clouds, it was a trial for the equipment only. The successful test-flight implies that we are now prepared to run a cloud seeding in later stages and make it a success," a Times of India report quoted Prof Agrawal as saying.

"We have been working on this project for a few years now. There was a delay in the procurement processes due to Covid. But now, after the approval from DGCA and successful completion of the first trial, we are close to completing the set-up," he further said.

The test-flight went up to an approximate height of 5,000 feet. The short flight took off and came back to the IIT-Kanpur Flight Lab airstrip after successfully completing the test ride.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had envisaged the plan for artificial rain in Bundelkhand as the technology was not only low on cost but also effective. Bundelkhand has a vast cultivation area, but the agriculture production is determined by the availability of water. The region gets scanty rainfall due to which most of the water bodies such as ponds dry up, and remain so most of the year.