As air quality in Delhi continues to deteriorate, the Delhi government on Tuesday proposed the option of artificial rains to help clear the smog. Environment Minister Gopal Rai wrote to the central government, urging intervention to initiate artificial rain in the national capital.

The Delhi government flagged the option of artificial rains and seeks the central government’s intervention.

Gufran Ullah Beig, a meteorologist, explains: “That is a very complicated issue, but one thing is very clear. To make artificial rain, you need to have seeding clouds. Artificial rain occurs when you have seeding clouds, which are water molecules, and you introduce substances like silver iodide or other mixtures to help precipitate it. Instead of forming droplets or ice crystals, the water turns into rain. But for that, you need to have seeding clouds. Not all clouds or water droplets in the sky are seeding clouds.”

Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that enhances the ability of clouds to produce “artificial rain” or snow, helping to meet the precipitation needs of a specific region. The first attempt to modify clouds through cloud seeding was made in 1946 in New York by chemist Vincent Schaefer.

Professor Sachchida Nand Tripathi from AI-CoE Sustainable Cities explains, “Countries have tried it for various reasons. China tried it when they were organizing the Beijing Olympics. Israel tries it often, mainly to bring rain for irrigation purposes. It can be tried, but it’s certainly challenging because you need to find the optimal combination of weather, cloud mixture, and several other factors that can give you the desired results.”

The seeding process, seen by experts as an emergency measure to combat severe air pollution in Delhi, presents certain challenges. Newer methods for cloud seeding involve using drones to deliver electric charges that stimulate rainfall or infrared laser pulses to induce particle formation, both of which require precise technology and conditions.

Professor Tripathi adds, “When you need to conduct cloud seeding over the Delhi NCR region, you also need to acquire many clearances, given that it is a very busy airspace and the capital of India.”

As the government contemplates cloud seeding, experts are concerned, saying there is no guarantee that the targeted area will receive rain. They argue that Delhi’s pollution issue requires more sustainable solutions rather than emergency measures.

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