New Delhi: The Delhi government’s cloud seeding experiments conducted on Tuesday to combat the capital’s severe air pollution have been labeled as “highly expensive, temporary, and unstable” by experts. While artificial rain temporarily reduces pollutants, air pollution levels tend to rise again within a day or two, experts said.
Under an agreement between the Delhi Environment Department and IIT Kanpur, over ₹3.2 crore was allocated for five cloud seeding experiments, costing approximately ₹64 lakh per attempt. Three experiments were conducted in North Delhi; however, none resulted in significant rainfall. According to the Times of India, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the ‘Poor’ to ‘Very Poor’ range in recent days despite the efforts.
Even after cloud seeding, substantial rainfall did not occur in the city. Although rainfall can wash away pollutants, the contamination quickly resurfaces, lasting only a few hours to a couple of days, said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Director at the Centre for Science and Environment.
Roy Chowdhury emphasized that cloud seeding is not a long-term solution and cannot be regularly implemented throughout the winter season. She stated that investments like these should focus on reducing pollution emissions from ground-level sources to sustainably improve public health and air quality.
Delhi’s winter climate is typically very dry with low humidity. Rainfall usually occurs only when Western Disturbances—weather systems from the Mediterranean region—affect the western plains. Cloud seeding in such conditions is generally ineffective. Shahzad Gani, Assistant Professor at IIT Delhi’s Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, questioned the logic of using silver bullet technologies like smog towers, smog guns, and cloud seeding when systematic reduction of pollutant emissions from various sources is necessary.
