Delhi to Conduct Cloud-Seeding Trials to Combat Air Pollution; Each Flight to Last 1.5 Hours

Delhi will conduct five cloud-seeding trials, each on a separate day, with flights operating for about one to one and a half hours to inject chemicals into the clouds.

What Is Cloud-seeding?

Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique aimed at inducing or enhancing precipitation—such as rain or snow—by dispersing substances like silver iodide or dry ice into clouds. These substances act as nuclei, encouraging cloud droplets to coalesce and grow larger until they fall as precipitation.

Who Will Implement The Project?

The project will be executed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), which will oversee planning, aircraft deployment, chemical dispersal, scientific modeling, and operational logistics.

The Delhi government sanctioned the cloud-seeding trials with a total budget of ₹3.21 crore. Out of this, ₹2.75 crore is will be spent for the actual trials, each costing ₹55 lakh. The first trial is scheduled to take place between May and June this year, covering an area of around 100 square kilometres, mainly on Delhi’s outskirts. Following the experiments, scientific assessments will be carried out to evaluate the effectiveness and environmental impact of cloud seeding in mitigating air pollution.

Earlier, Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had confirmed that the government has arrived at a decision regarding cloud seeding. 

"Today Delhi is pollution-stricken. This is a war against pollution... The Delhi government is working on Prime Minister Modi's vision... Today we have decided that we will induce rain in Delhi through cloud seeding... We want to try it once... Our effort will be to induce rain in Delhi through cloud seeding and reduce the pollution here...," he said.

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