Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) The much-awaited effort to create artificial rain through cloud seeding in parts of Delhi has not been “completely successful”. According to Manindra Agarwal, director of IIT Kanpur, the failure was mainly caused by insufficient moisture in the clouds, emphasizing that cloud seeding is not a magic bullet for Delhi’s pollution crisis, but an emergency, last resort. He also said that the team is planning to make new efforts on Wednesday
Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Tuesday, Agarwal, whose institute is collaborating with the Delhi government for this pilot project, said the team is planning to make fresh attempts on Wednesday, hoping for better results.
Agarwal told NDTV, “There has been no rain so far. It is not completely successful in that sense. Unfortunately, the moisture content in the clouds present today was not very high. I am told it was only around 15-20 per cent. With such low humidity levels, the chances of rain are not very high. But this test has given our team more confidence to continue with it.”
The IIT Kanpur-led team used 20 percent silver iodide and the rest a mixture of rock salt and common salt to seed the clouds. A total of 14 flares were fired on Tuesday.
Aggarwal said, “There were conflicting reports about the possibility of rain today. Some forecasts predicted rain, while others did not. But our own observation was that the moisture content in the clouds was very low – and this may be true for the entire area we passed through. Therefore, we do not expect rain today.”
Two additional flights are scheduled for Wednesday, he said, and operations will continue whenever suitable clouds are available.
When asked whether cloud seeding could serve as a long-term solution to Delhi’s persistent air pollution, Aggarwal was candid in his response.
“This is an SOS solution, which can be attempted only in times of crisis when pollution levels are very high. This is not a permanent solution. The permanent solution, of course, is to control the sources of pollution. Ideally, we should reach a stage where there is no need for cloud seeding as the pollution itself has abated. Till then, this is one of the tools available to provide temporary relief,” he said.
Aggarwal admitted that the current cost of operations is high as the flights are being operated from Uttar Pradesh. However, he added that these costs could be reduced substantially in future efforts.
“Any effort that results in a partial reduction in pollution benefits everyone. Even if it rains after a few days, it can provide some relief,” he said.
According to preliminary reports by the Delhi government, the cloud seeding experiment helped reduce particulate matter levels in some targeted areas. Two minor rainfall events were recorded around 4 pm on Tuesday – 0.1 mm in Noida and 0.2 mm in Greater Noida.
Before seeding, PM 2.5 levels were recorded at 221 (Mayur Vihar), 230 (Karol Bagh), and 229 (Burari). After seeding, they dropped to 207, 206 and 203 respectively.
Similarly, PM 10 levels in the same areas dropped from 207, 206 and 209 to 177, 163 and 177.
Delhi Forest and Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had confirmed that two cloud seeding attempts were conducted on Tuesday with the help of IIT Kanpur – one in the morning and the other in the evening.
“Today, one attempt was made in the morning and another in the evening. The results are still being collected,” Sirsa told IANS. He stressed that the Delhi government is committed to finding scientific solutions to deal with the city’s toxic air.
The experiment comes at a time when Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated rapidly in the days following Diwali celebrations. The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) remained in the “poor” to “very poor” category, with smog blanketing large parts of the city.
Cloud seeding involves spreading substances such as silver iodide nanoparticles, iodine-rich salt and dry ice into the atmosphere to encourage cloud condensation and trigger precipitation. It is often used in areas suffering from water shortages, or to reduce hailstorms and fog.
On Tuesday, the IIT Kanpur aircraft created a corridor about 25 nautical miles (46.3 km) long and four nautical miles (7.4 km) wide covering the areas between Khekra and Burari colonies.
The first flight released six flares at an altitude of about 4,000 feet, while the second, which took off at 3:55 p.m., deployed eight flares at a slightly higher altitude of 5,000 feet.
Despite the lack of rainfall, experts consider the test a significant technological breakthrough, being one of India’s most advanced urban cloud seeding operations to date.
–IANS
jk/red