Cloud seeding essential for Delhi to tackle pollution: CM Rekha Gupta

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said that cloud seeding is essential for the national capital as it could play a key role in controlling rising pollution levels during the winter season.

Speaking about a successful test run of the experiment carried out on Thursday, Gupta said, “Cloud seeding is something that has never happened before. We want to carry out this trial over the city as it could help reduce air pollution.”

“We believe this technology will be successful. It can be used to tackle environmental challenges in the future, especially those faced during the winter months,” she added.

On Thursday night, Gupta said in a post on X that a successful trial of the project was conducted in the Burari area.

“For the first time in Delhi, preparations have been completed to induce artificial rain through cloud seeding, marking a significant technological milestone in the capital’s fight against air pollution. Experts on Thursday successfully conducted a trial test in the Burari area,” she wrote.

Officials said that during the trial, small amounts of silver iodide and sodium chloride — compounds used to induce artificial rain — were released from an aircraft.

However, there was limited moisture in the air, less than 20 per cent. Cloud seeding typically requires a moisture level of around 50 per cent, which meant no rainfall occurred in the area.

In its report on the test run, IIT-Kanpur said, “This flight served as a proving mission to assess the capabilities for cloud seeding, the readiness and endurance of the aircraft, the functionality of the seeding equipment and flares, and the coordination among all the agencies involved.”

“There is no evidence of any precipitation, as the cloud cover was minimal and the moisture content was well below 15 per cent,” the report said, noting that specially-designed flares were used to release both silver iodide and sodium chloride.

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the flight served as a proving mission to assess the cloud-seeding system’s capabilities, aircraft endurance, and coordination among all the participating agencies.

The cloud-seeding project, jointly developed by IIT-Kanpur and Delhi government, aims to explore artificial rainfall as a method to reduce particulate pollution levels in the city during the post-Diwali smog season.

Last month, Delhi government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT-Kanpur for five cloud-seeding trials, which are expected to be conducted in northwest Delhi.

The project, approved by multiple departments, including the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), aims to explore whether artificial rain can be a viable solution to tackle rising pollution levels during the winter.

Permission has been granted under Rule 26(2) of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, allowing IIT-Kanpur’s Department of Aerospace Engineering to conduct the activity using a Cessna 206-H aircraft (VT-IIT).

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The Delhi Cabinet had approved a proposal on May 7 to conduct five cloud-seeding trials at a total cost of Rs 3.21 crore.

However, the exercise faced repeated delays due to unfavourable weather conditions and the onset of southwest monsoon, with deadlines being pushed back from May-end and early June to August, September, and most recently, the second week of October.