Two cloud seeding trials to be conducted this month in Delhi: Sirsa

The Delhi government is likely to conduct two cloud-seeding trials this month to induce rain as part of its measures to improve pollution levels in the Capital -- a technique which experts have long stressed is not a viable solution for pollution control.

A cabinet note for the same will be placed before the cabinet soon, environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told HT on Saturday.

The exercise will be funded by the Delhi government, and will be carried out by IIT-Kanpur. An official aware of the matter said that the proposal may be put up before the cabinet next week.

“The BJP government is working on a war-footing to provide clean air to the people of Delhi. We are taking multiple measures for pollution control and cloud-seeding is one of them. The project is in the final stage. A cabinet note has been prepared and is likely to be put up before the cabinet next week for approval. We have planned to fund ₹3.25 crore to IIT-Kanpur for the two cloud-seeding trials,” Sirsa said. “IIT-Kanpur has already conducted the cloud-seeding trials in UP and has already done extensive studies and preparations for conducting it.”

All required approvals from various agencies will be taken for exercise after the cabinet approval, the minister said.

“Both the trials will be conducted in outer Delhi possibly in a day or within a couple of days, and we will also test the quality of the rainwater (from the cloud-seeding trials). The rainwater from cloud-seeding is usually considered harmless but we want to make sure through testing that it has no harmful chemicals,” Sirsa told HT.

Depending on the results, the exercise will be implemented on a large scale in the city, the minister added.

Cloud-seeding is a weather modification technique, where silver iodide is released into the atmosphere to aid the formation of ice crystals and improve the ability of the cloud to create rain which may improve air quality. As an emergency measure to control pollution, the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had also announced plans in the winter of 2023 but failed to proceed due to “unfavourable” meteorological conditions.

While the technique has been used in other regions, its effectiveness in controlling pollution remains debated.

Experts instead recommend targeting pollution at its source.

“This is not a practical solution. Even if the government intends to use it as an emergency measure in winter, testing it in May will not provide meaningful data. Funds will be better spent addressing pollution at its source,” said Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at Envirocatalysts.