Cloud seeding: Delhi to conduct 1st artificial rain trial today; aircraft to take off from Kanpur once weather improves

NEW DELHI: Delhi Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday said that a cloud-seeding operation to create artificial rainfall in Delhi may take place today if weather conditions become favourable in Kanpur, where the aircraft meant for the operation is currently stationed.Speaking to the media, Sirsa said, "Regarding cloud seeding, as soon as the weather clears up in Kanpur, our aircraft will take off from there today. If it succeeds in taking off from there, cloud seeding will be done in Delhi today. Through that cloud seeding, there will be rainfall in Delhi. Right now, the visibility in Kanpur is 2000 metres. Visibility of 5000 metres is being awaited there. Visibility is low in Delhi too.

We hope that this will be possible by 12.30–1 pm. Then it will take off from there, do cloud seeding here and return."

The cloud-seeding initiative comes as Delhi’s air quality continues to remain in the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories following Diwali, despite Stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) being in place. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was recorded at 306 at 8 am on Tuesday.

Among the city’s monitoring stations, Anand Vihar reported an AQI of 321, RK Puram 320, Siri Fort 350, Bawana 336, Burari Crossing 326, Dwarka Sector 8 316, Mundka 324, Narela 303 and Punjabi Bagh 323 — all categorised as ‘very poor’.Cloud seeding involves producing artificial rain by dispersing particles such as silver iodide or salt-based compounds into moisture-laden clouds. These particles help combine smaller droplets into larger ones, leading to rainfall.Last week, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta said cloud seeding as an essential and innovative measure to tackle the city’s growing air pollution problem.CM said, "Cloud seeding is a necessity for Delhi and is the first experiment of its kind. We want to try it in Delhi to see if it can help us control this very serious environmental problem."She added, "So the blessings of the people of Delhi are with the government, and we feel that this will be a successful experiment and in future, we will be able to overcome these environmental problems."(With inputs from agency)