Delhi Gears Up For First-Ever Artificial Rain Via Cloud Seeding On Oct 29 As AQI Worsens Post Diwali
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta termed the initiative as a significant step towards establishing a scientific way to tackle pollution in Delhi.
The capital city is all set to wash away its woes with artificial rain through cloud seeding. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced on Thursday that all preparations for the artificial rain have been made after a successful test conducted in the Burari area of Delhi.
"Preparations have been completed for the first time in Delhi to induce artificial rain through cloud seeding. Today, experts have successfully tested it in the Burari area", she said in a post on social media platform X.
The national capital region has been breathing heavy ever since the Air Quality Index (AQI) deteriorated to crash land in the "very poor" category after Diwali.
The Chief Minister also informed that the Indian Meteorological Department has forecasted possibility of cloud presence on Oct. 28, 29, and 30 and that if conditions are in favor, "Delhi will experience its first artificial rain on Oct. 29."
Gupta termed the initiative as a significant step towards establishing a scientific way to tackle pollution in Delhi. "The government's objective is to make the capital's air clean and the environment balanced through this innovation", she said.
In September, the Delhi government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with with IIT Kanpur for five cloud seeding trials. Further, an aircraft fitted with cloud-seeding equipment for the artificial rain experiment is stationed in Meerut, under the supervision of a team from IIT Kanpur.
The project, approved by 23 departments, including the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, aims to explore whether artificial rain can be a viable solution to combat pollution in winter.
According to a DGCA order, the activity will be carried out under visual flight rules, without remuneration, and only after obtaining clearances from state and local authorities.
On Wednesday, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told PTI that there were no suitable clouds for the trial, according to the India Meteorological Department, and no window is expected until Oct. 25.
"The day we get suitable clouds, we will conduct the trial immediately, as all preparations — from permissions to flight arrangements — are already in place," he stated.
(With PTI Inputs)
