Think long-term seeding: Tech partner Israeli firm providing expertise for BMC experiment argues against using the technique on and off

Think long-term seeding: Tech partner

Israeli firm providing expertise for BMC experiment argues against using the technique on and off

The national water company of Israel, Mekorot, which will provide its expertise and technical support to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) cloud seeding experiment as part of a “government-to-government alliance” has suggested that the project be used as a long-term exercise rather than a last-ditch effort to induce rainfall. “Results cannot be seen with one trial. We need data of a series of trials over a few years, which could be used to debate the use of the technique in emergencies in years to come,” said Gaurav Seth, director, AFII Corporate Advisors, Mekorot’s sister concern in India. Asked about the increase in the cost of the experiment from Rs12 crore to more than Rs20 crore, Seth clarifies that the quotation given by the company has not changed. “We see the cloud seeding trials as a ‘hand-holding’ exercise, where the civic body can become self-reliant on conducting this procedure after a few experiments. Mekorot is not a profit-making company but a government agency of Israel and we have not increased a penny from what we had submitted earlier,” says Seth. The BMC is seeking help from two different companies for the cloud seeding trials. While Mekorot will provide the technical expertise, the logistical support will be given by a Bangalore-based company, which will bring in new aircraft and its crew from South Africa. “The civic body had not calculated the overheads of the entire exercise. The overhead expenditure like fuel charges, hangar charges, airport charges, taxes, DGCA (directorate general of civil aviation) approvals for bringing in foreign crew and foreign aircraft from South Africa will have to be counted separately,” says Seth. On Mekorot’s credibility, Dr Mahesh Gandhi, CEO, AFII Corporate Advisors, says, “It has over 50 years of experience in cloud seeding. The request for cloud seeding has come at a short notice and Mekorot is deploying its best resources for this experiment to make it a success. Experts from Mekorot visited Mumbai earlier this month and met officials from the BMC, the IITM (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology) and IMD (Indian meteorological department).” Mekorot jumped at providing its expertise because it saw in the experiment the opportunity to capture data for sustained, future use in Mumbai. “We have suggested to the BMC that we would like to support them on a long-term basis, wherein we will help it develop the ability to run such programmes on their own,” says Gandhi. Mekorot and the BMC have also discussed and agreed in-principle to work together for development, operation and management of water and sewage projects in Mumbai.