A high-cost experiment to create artificial rain over Delhi through cloud seeding failed on Tuesday, even as the city continued to battle smog and toxic air. Despite the unsuccessful outcome, officials from the BJP-led Delhi government called the exercise “scientifically successful,” with more trials planned in the coming days.
A small Cessna aircraft operated by IIT Kanpur carried out two cloud-seeding tests across northwest Delhi, Burari, Mayur Vihar, and parts of Noida, using silver iodide and sodium chloride compounds to trigger rainfall. However, both trials failed to produce any measurable precipitation.
The Delhi Cabinet had earlier sanctioned ₹3.21 crore for five cloud-seeding trials — averaging around ₹64 lakh per attempt. The two conducted on Tuesday alone cost roughly ₹1.28 crore, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Officials said the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted low moisture levels of only 10–15%, making conditions unsuitable for cloud formation. Nonetheless, a government report claimed a slight drop in particulate matter (PM) levels at sites where seeding was conducted.
Delhi’s environment minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, defended the initiative, calling it a “science-first step” to explore weather modification as a tool against pollution. “Each trial teaches us how much rainfall can be induced under Delhi’s real-life humidity conditions,” he said.
AAP’s ‘Lord Indra’ Dig
The exercise soon became a political flashpoint. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) criticised the BJP government for spending crores on an experiment conducted on a day when IMD had already forecast rain.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj mocked the initiative during a press conference, asking sarcastically, “Will Lord Indra come down to clarify whether it was artificial rain or natural rain?”
The AAP government had first proposed a similar cloud-seeding plan in 2023, but it was never implemented due to “unfavourable weather conditions” and lack of central approvals.
Despite the setback, the Delhi government said nine to ten more trials are planned in the coming days, with hopes of achieving measurable rainfall as humidity improves.
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