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Kodagu residents and groups oppose govt’s cloud seeding plan
The people fear that if cloud seeding is taken up, people may witness heavy rainfall and landslides.
Bengaluru
Various Kodava community groups and Kodagu district residents have strongly opposed the cloud seeding proposal of the state government in the district.
On September 29, state public works department minister Satish Jarkiholi said, to help farmers affected by drought in Belagavi district, cloud seeding operations were carried out in Gokak and Khanapur regions, and will be done in other parts of the district . The minister said if it is successful, cloud seeding would be taken up in areas along the Cauvery basin like Madikeri in Kodagu district and Hassan by Belagavi Sugars Private Ltd, a company owned by him, if approval is given by the state government.
But the minister’s statement has triggered strong opposition from various Kodava community groups. Even as the district received lower than the average rainfall this year, people are not showing interest to the cloud seeding proposal.
The district was hit by excess rainfall and landslides during August 2018 and 2019, resulting in hundreds of crores of loss of property. The people fear that if cloud seeding is taken up, people may witness heavy rainfall and landslides.
“Taking up cloud seeding to artificially precipitate rain in the parched districts is not an ideal solution. Such operations must not be initiated on whims. They must be conducted only after the experts have been thoroughly consulted,” said B Appu Bopanna, a social activist in Madikeri. “This kind of experiment is unscientific and would cause heavy rainfall and people would be affected badly.”
“Although Kodagu is facing deficit rainfall, it is not a suitable time for cloud seeding as coffee and paddy is nearing harvest,” Kodavame convener Chamera Dinesh Belliappa told reporters. He said the state government is trying to provide water to other districts through cloud seeding here. “Though river Cauvery is born here, the people of the district have not benefitted from it,” he added.
“Cloud seeding in Kodagu may benefit other districts,” Akhila Kodava Samaja youth wing president C Pravin Uthappa told reporters.” He said the technicians who undertake cloud seeding do not know how much rain would be received in a particular area. The district is an eco-sensitive zone and the plantations would be affected due to this exercise, he added.
