Cloud-seeding trial paused in Delhi due to low moisture content; AAP says ‘publicity-driven’ activity

A day after two cloud-seeding trials did not lead to artificial rain in the city, the Delhi government paused the exercise on Wednesday citing low moisture content in clouds, even as a political slugfest erupted between the ruling BJP and AAP over the issue.

IIT-Kanpur Director Manindra Agrawal admitted that they did not achieve success in ensuring rainfall in the national capital, but said they received “key insights” from the activity.

However, Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa asserted that cloud-seeding trials conducted on Tuesday were “successful”.

“We reached a stage where we could conduct the trials. Nine to 10 trials will be conducted and then, we will get to know at what moisture content rain can be induced. Once IIT-Kanpur has concrete information on the moisture content needed to induce rain, we will be able to utilise it to have artificial rain in Delhi when needed,” he told PTI.

According to IIT-Kanpur, which executed the trials, Rs 60 lakh was incurred on the exercise.

The institute said Tuesday’s data showed a measurable reduction of 6 to 10 per cent in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, indicating that even under limited moisture conditions, cloud seeding can contribute to improved air quality.

A senior official said that the government is awaiting clarity on whether the next trial will be carried out on Thursday.

Sirsa said that it all depends on the weather conditions, adding that if the moisture level and cloud conditions are suitable, then it will be carried out.

Earlier in the day, IIT-Kanpur Director Agrawal said that while the cloud seeding trial in Delhi did not bring rain, it provided useful information and asserted that the cost of the process was not much compared to the money spent on pollution control measures in the city.

“The trial was conducted over an area of 300 square kilometres. The overall cost of that, in my rough estimate, came to around Rs 60 lakh. It roughly comes to around Rs 20,000 per square kilometre.

“If we conduct the exercise over an area of 1,000 square kilometres, the cost would be around Rs 2 crore,” Agrawal explained in a video statement.

Delving into further details, he said if it is conducted over the entire winter period, and it is assumed that clouds are present once in 10 days, the cost would come to around Rs 25-30 crore.

The amount of money spent on pollution control measures in Delhi is quite large, he said, opining that the cost incurred on cloud seeding is not much.

He asserted that in the absence of a lot of cloud moisture, the possibility of inducing rainfall got reduced.

The trials led to a political slugfest. From memes to songs, the Aam Aadmi Party used every trick to slam the Delhi government.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party questioned the BJP dispensation, saying no rainfall was recorded despite claims of artificial rain as it raised doubts over the feasibility of such experiments in the national capital.

Quoting a media report which said that conditions were not conducive for cloud seeding, Kejriwal in a post on X said, “Actually, all the engines of this government have failed. This government itself has completely failed.”

Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “For the past few days, it was being said that cloud seeding had been done in various areas of Delhi, but there was no rain anywhere.”

He also referred to previous statements made in Parliament, where three central government institutions had reportedly said cloud seeding was not suitable for Delhi due to meteorological and chemical factors.

“When these agencies had already stated that cloud seeding cannot be done in Delhi, what was the need for such an exercise now?” Bharadwaj asked, alleging that public money was being spent on what he called a “publicity-driven activity”.

Hitting back, Sirsa said AAP failed to conduct cloud seeding trial during their 10-year tenure and the party was “jealous” of the achievements of the Rekha Gupta government.

“AAP will obviously raise questions. They were unsuccessful in the last 10 years and ruined Delhi. Now Chhath is being celebrated on the banks of Yamuna. The river is cleaner. Green crackers were allowed and still the pollution levels are in control. How can they tolerate this?” he asked.

Questioning AAP, he said that a day after Diwali, they were saying why cloud seeding is not being carried out and now when it was done, they are again levelling allegations.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) remained in the “poor” category with a reading of 279, showing a marginal decline from 294 a day ago. On Monday, the AQI was 301, falling under the “very poor” category.