Delhi trials cloud seeding to combat deadly smog

Dangerous particulate levels shoot up to 56 times the limit after Diwali fireworks

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India trialled cloud seeding over its smog-filled capital for the first time, spraying a chemical from an aeroplane to encourage rain and wash deadly particles out of the air.

Cloud seeding is the practice of using airplanes to fire salt or other chemicals into clouds to induce rain.

The New Delhi city authorities, working with the government's Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, launched a test run on the afternoon of Oct 23 using a Cessna light aeroplane over the city’s northern Burari area.

“A trial seeding flight was done... in which cloud seeding flares were fired”, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said in a statement late on Oct 23.

“This flight was the proving flight for checking the capabilities for cloud seeding, the readiness and endurance of the aircraft, the capability assessment of the cloud seeding fitments and flares, and coordination among all involved agencies.”

It comes ahead of a planned roll-out of the scheme.