Delhi's ambitious cloud seeding project is facing mounting criticism from environmental experts who have labelled the technique a "hugely expensive, temporary and unsustainable" measure to combat the capital's toxic pollution, even as scientists behind the initiative report curious marginal improvements in air quality.
Reports show that Delhi's recent cloud-seeding trials failed to produce significant rainfall because of unsuitable atmospheric conditions, leading experts to express skepticism about its use as an effective solution to the city's winter pollution crisis. Cloud seeding cannot create clouds and requires specific meteorological factors to be present to work.
The scientific endeavour, executed by IIT Kanpur, has conducted three trials to date, one on October 23 and two on October 28, with none producing significant rainfall in the capital.The latest attempts involved two aircraft sorties dispersing a tested mixture of flares over areas including Khekra, Burari and Mayur Vihar.
Despite these efforts, the city saw no measurable rainfall. IIT Kanpur stated that neighbouring areas received only trace amounts - 0.1 mm in Noida and 0.2 mm in Greater Noida - data it attributed to a private weather application.Authorities identified a key culprit for the lack of rain: insufficient moisture. An IIT Kanpur statement confirmed that humidity levels within the targeted clouds ranged from a mere 10% to 20%, far below the ideal conditions required for successful seeding.
Criticism is also mounting in the wake of the fact that cost per sortie is exorbitant and not commensurate with desired results.The project's substantial cost is now under intense scrutiny. According to the MoU between the Delhi environment department and IIT Kanpur, the budget for cloud seeding is over Rs 3.2 crore for five trials, translating to approximately Rs 64 lakh per sortie.
With Delhi's air quality index (AQI) continuing to hover in the 'very poor' to 'poor' range, experts are questioning the value of this temporary intervention.
Experts are skeptical about the success of the trial or similar actions in future noting that there are several reasons why intended results may not be achieved. Contending seeding cannot be done on all clouds and that the intensity of pollution is so big to mitigate the impact in a big way , while questioning science behind winter cloud seeding in general.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, state in a section of media that even if rain were to wash out pollutants, the impact would be fleeting.
"The pollution will bounce back quickly. The impact lasts from hours to a couple of days," she said, stressing that the initiative cannot be done regularly for the entire winter season and that investments should instead target actual emission reduction from ground sources.Some experts also argued that conducting cloud seeding during such natural weather phenomena would be pointless. He also raised concerns about potential liability if damaging rain coincided with seeding operations.The biggest pollution paradox remains that there is marginal drop in AQI levels amid failed rains
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