CLOUD SEEDING FAILS TO BRING RAIN IN DELHI

THE AMBITIOUS INITIATIVE

• As pollution in the national capital worsened after Diwali, Delhi finally decided to conduct the long planned cloud seeding trials, worth crores, on Tuesday to induce artificial rain.
• However, the two attempted trials failed to bring rain in the national capital.
• The Delhi government, in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, conducted three trials to date, one on October 23 and two on October 28; however, none helped in producing significant rainfall in the capital.

HOW MUCH DID CLOUD SEEDING COST?

• The total cost of cloud seeding across five trials stood at Rs 3.2 crore, which means each trial cost Rs 64 lakh.
• However, the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government conducted two trials on Tuesday, costing Rs 1.2 crore in total.
• Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has highlighted that IIT Kanpur would conduct up to nine trials from this overall budget.

DID CLOUD SEEDING HELP REDUCE POLLUTION?

• However, the cloud seeding did not bring any significant relief from Delhi pollution.
• A day after Delhi conducted cloud seeding trials, the air quality remained in “poor” and “very poor” categories on Wednesday.
• Delhi on Wednesday, 8 am, recorded its average air quality at 306, slipping into the “very poor” category from the “poor” category, which was recorded on Tuesday with 294 AQI.
• Moreover, on Thursday, the AQI worsened as it slipped to the “severe” category, hitting the 400 mark in the morning.
• Several areas across Delhi-NCR recorded an AQI above 400, while some slipped to “very poor”.

HOW WAS CLOUD SEEDING DONE?

• Small aircrafts flew over several parts of Delhi on Tuesday, which includes Burari, Mayur Vihar, and Karol Bagh, dispersing specially designed chemicals into the atmosphere.
• The aircrafts released eight flares during a half-hour operation, each lasting about two to two-and-a-half minutes.
• These flares contained compounds which included silver iodide and salt, which help water droplets in clouds combine and form rain.
• In spite of all the attempts, 11 of Delhi’s 38 monitoring stations continued to record AQI in the “very poor” category, just a day after the trials were held, with readings above 300, according to the CPCB’s Sameer app data.

MADE SMALL IMPACT: SIRSA

• The government later said the trials made a small impact, but the IMD did not record any data.
• The first trial finished by 2 pm on Tuesday, while the second flight took off from Meerut around 4 pm and ended an hour later.
• In the evening, the government released a report saying that the cloud seeding reduced air pollution where it was carried out, even though the weather conditions were not ideal.
• The report noted that two light rains occurred – one in Noida at 4 pm (0.1 mm) and another in Greater Noida at the same time (0.2 mm).
• "Before cloud seeding, the PM 2.5 level was 221, 230, and 229 in Mayur Vihar, Karol Bagh, and Burari, respectively, which reduced to 207, 206, and 203, respectively, after the first seeding. Similarly, PM 10 level was 207, 206, 209, which got reduced to 177, 163, 177 at Mayur Vihar, Karol Bagh, and Burari, respectively," the report stated.
• The government said that the moisture content predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and other agencies remained low at 10-15 per cent, which is not ideal for cloud seeding.

MORE TRIALS AHEAD

• Delhi is planning nine to ten more trials over the next few days.
• Since the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that the wind is blowing northwards, the team is targeting areas in that direction.
• Sirsa called the project a major step by the government to reduce air pollution.
• If the trials work, officials plan to continue the effort until February.
• Sirsa added that if successful, this would be India’s first scientific attempt to reduce pollution levels through such methods.

THE EXPERTS’ OPINION

• Environmentalists called the cloud seeding trial a short-term measure, saying it may temporarily reduce pollution but fails to address the root causes of the capital’s deteriorating air quality.
• As the Delhi government conducted the exercise on Tuesday, environmentalist Vimlendu Jha called the move a “temporary”, “end-of-the-tail” solution that might provide relief for a few days.
• He advised the government to focus on tackling pollution at the grassroots level.
• "Cloud seeding also affects soil and water bodies as chemicals like sulphur and iodide are injected into clouds. Moreover, this approach is city-specific, what about the pollutants coming from neighbouring states?" he asked.
• Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality showed a marginal improvement with an AQI of 294 (“poor” category) as against 301 (“very poor”) recorded the previous day.

AAP SLAMS BJP

• The Aam Aadmi Party called the BJP government’s cloud seeding experiment on Tuesday a “big fraud” and said it might attempt to steal the credit of (Hindu rain God) Lord Indra if actual rain happens.
• There was no immediate response from the BJP.
• In a statement, AAP’s Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP government has “committed fraud even in the name of rain”.
• "It seems even Lord Indra is upset with the BJP," Bharadwaj remarked, pointing out that there was no trace of rain in Central Delhi either.

CLOUD SEEDING IN THE PAST

• Historically, the first cloud seeding trial in the national capital was conducted during the monsoon of 1957, while the second attempt was made during the winter of the early 1970s, according to climate scientist Roxy Matthew Koll from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
• In 1972, silver iodide particles released from ground-based generators acted as tiny nuclei around which moisture condensed to form raindrops, according to reports.

Editor’s Note

• Delhi’s failed attempt at artificial rain is more than just a scientific misfire — it’s a sobering reminder that technology alone cannot wash away decades of neglect. ₹3.2 crore and multiple sorties later, the clouds didn’t burst — but the illusion that quick fixes can solve a chronic crisis certainly did. While cloud seeding reflects ambition, it also exposes the desperation of a city gasping for clean air and accountability. Real relief will not come from the sky, but from the ground — through systemic change, political will, and an unwavering commitment to sustainable urban living.
• #delhipollution #cloudseeding #cleanairnow #climateaction