Delhi ready for cloud seeding, waiting for suitable weather: Sirsa

The ₹3.21 crore project with IIT Kanpur aims to induce artificial rain using a modified aircraft over northwest Delhi once IMD gives the go-ahead.

The government is ready to carry out cloud seeding, but is waiting for suitable weather, Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Tuesday, speaking at a press conference a day after Diwali.

Sirsa said cloud seeding can’t proceed without cloud cover, responding to AAP’s criticism over the BJP government’s unfulfilled pollution-control promise. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

“Cloud seeding happens only when there are clouds. First comes the ‘cloud’, then the ‘seeding’. Without clouds, cloud seeding is scientifically impossible. People should understand science before making political statements.”

The minister was responding to criticisms from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj for not having conducted cloud seeding yet. On Tuesday, Delhi was blanketed in a toxic haze, with the air quality index (AQI) staying in the ‘very poor’ category.

Last week, Sirsa had said that all the preparations for cloud seeding are complete, including four days of trial, with only a final approval from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) awaited. Highlighting that the process would help reduce air pollution, he said, “If all goes well, the first trial could happen even on the day-after Diwali or the following day, if conditions are suitable.”

On Tuesday, speaking to the media, Bharadwaj questioned why cloud seeding hadn’t been carried out as promised. “The government had claimed that they would induce artificial rain after Diwali to control pollution, but no such rain took place. If the BJP government truly had the capacity and had made a promise to make it happen, why did they not do it?”

The process of cloud seeding involves the dispersing of substances such as silver iodide (Agl) into clouds to increase their ability to produce rain. In Delhi, the ₹3.21 crore project is being carried out in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, which has modified its Cessna-206H aircraft for the same. Northwest Delhi has been chosen as the area where the pilot project will be carried out.