Delhi Govt mulls inducing artificial rain amid deteriorating air quality

PTC News Desk: As the national capital's air quality continues to be categorized as "severe," Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced on Wednesday that the Aam Admi government planned to use cloud seeding this month to create artificial rain in an effort to reduce air pollution.

Gopal Rai met with IIT-Kanpur scientists to talk about the artificial rain proposal.

Gopal Rai stated, "a meeting with the IIT Kanpur team was held today regarding the possibility of cloud seeding, i.e., artificial rain, in the wake of the pollution situation. This proposal was first presented by IIT Kanpur in that meeting. It was decided that tomorrow they would send a detailed proposal to the government."

According to Environment Minister Rai, a pilot project involving artificial rains could be carried out on November 20–21 if specific cloud-related conditions are met.

"If we receive their proposal tomorrow, we will present it before the Supreme Court. They (IIT Kanpur) estimate that it can be cloudy on November 20-21 in Delhi. If there is 40 per cent cloud coverage, then artificial rains can be made possible. Keeping that in mind, we have asked them to send a proposal tomorrow and then we will present it before the Court," Rai added.

The technique of artificially creating rain by implanting particles, like crystals of silver iodide, into clouds is known as cloud seeding. It uses planes to spray clouds with chemicals to condense smaller particles into larger rain droplets.

The pilot can be carried out on November 20–21 if there is cloud cover and all necessary permissions are received," he continued.

Notably, clouds with a lot of moisture are needed for cloud seeding, but these clouds are not always present or predictable.