DELHI BETS ON CLOUD SEEDING, EXPERTS QUESTION ITS EFFECTIVENESS

The Delhi government, earlier this week, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to initiate cloud seeding trials as an emergency measure to tackle the alarming levels of air pollution.

- TIKAM SHARMA

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, along with Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, was present during the MoU signing ceremony.

According to a senior government official, the procedure will involve aircraft flying beneath cloud layers and dispersing silver iodide. This compound interacts with the existing water droplets in clouds, making them heavier so they condense and eventually fall as rain. The first phase of this experiment has been scheduled between October 7 and 11 across north and northwest Delhi. The operations will employ IIT Kanpur's Cessna 206H aircraft, stationed at the Hindon airbase, at an estimated expense of 3.5 crore. The outcomes of this trial will guide the government in deciding subsequent steps.

Initially, the exercise was planned for late May or early June but was delayed due to pending clearances. The Delhi government had been awaiting the required No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and other regulatory authorities. However, earlier this week, the government confirmed that it had finally secured clearance from the DGCA to conduct cloud seeding trials between October 1 and November 30.

In fact, as early as July, the DGCA had already granted its final approval. Earlier, the trials were scheduled between August 30 and September 10, but these were again postponed based on weather projections by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), which forecasted unsuitable monsoon cloud patterns.