Delhi cloud seeding trial done, minister shares update on artificial rain
As per officials, the trial today was conducted over Khekra, Burari, Mayur Vihar, North Karol Bagh, Sadakpur and Bhojpur.
The cloud seeding trial for Delhi has been completed on Tuesday. As per officials, the special flight from Kanpur will now land in Meerut after it conducted the trial in Delhi's Burari area.
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Officials told HT that the area will now be monitored for artificial rain. Officials further shared that a second trial may be held later today.
As per experts at IIT Kanpur, who were involved with the government's project, the artificial rain is expected to lash over Delhi any time between the next 15 minutes to four hours.
Confirming the completion of the trial, Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said if the trials are successful today, the NCT government will draft a long term plan till February 2026.
"We will conduct artificial rain daily or every alternate day, if the weather demands that," he added.
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The Delhi government is slated to carry out five cloud seeding trials as part of its plan to tackle worsening air quality levels in the national capital. Officials have stated that all 5 trials will be carried out in northwest Delhi.
As per officials, the trial today was conducted over Khekra, Burari, Mayur Vihar, North Karol Bagh, Sadakpur and Bhojpur.
Tuesday's trial marks the second trial cloud seeding attempt over Delhi. The first was carried out last week over Burari. However, was unable to induce rain due to low atmospheric moisture of less than 20 per cent. At least 50 percent is required to induce artificial rain.
The Delhi government had revealed its plan for cloud seeding last week. Chief minister Rekha Gupta had stated earlier that the trial will be carried out on October 28 to 29 as the IMD predicted cloudy skies over the national capital.
What is cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding refers to artificially generating rainfall by introducing particles, such as silver iodide crystals or salt-based compounds, into moisture-laden clouds.
Flights are used to disperse these particles, which condense smaller cloud droplets into larger raindrops, possibly leading to precipitation. For Delhi, the flight took off from Kanpur.
(With inputs from HT correspondents)
