Delhi’s ₹1.28 Crore Cloud Seeding Trial Fizzles Out, But Officials Call It a Scientific Success

A small aircraft from IIT Kanpur sliced through the grey skies over Delhi and Noida on Tuesday, releasing chemical flares in a high-stakes experiment to trigger artificial rain. The goal: to combat the city's seasonal pollution. The result: no rain.

The twin sorties fired 16 flares-eight per run-loaded with silver iodide and salt compounds over Burari, Mayur Vihar, and Noida. The project, greenlit by the Delhi Cabinet in May with a budget of ₹3.21 crore for five trials, had already been delayed twice due to monsoon interference. Tuesday's flights alone cost ₹1.28 crore. But the clouds didn't cooperate.

The aircraft fired 16 flares-eight in each of two sorties-loaded with a mixture of silver iodide, rock salt, and common salt. The targeted areas included Burari, Mayur Vihar, and Noida. The trials were originally scheduled for May and June but were postponed twice due to monsoon interference. Tuesday's double run alone cost ₹1.28 crore.

Delhi's environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa praised the effort, calling it "an unprecedented, science-first step" and emphasizing that "with every trial, science guides our actions-for the winter and all year round." But the skies didn't cooperate.

Speaking to NDTV, IIT Kanpur Director Manindra Agarwal, whose team led the experiment, spoke avbout its limitations. "There hasn't been any rain so far. So, in that sense, it was not completely successful," he stated. "Unfortunately, the clouds that are present today do not have very high moisture content... only up to 15-20%. So, the possibility of causing rain with such low moisture content is not very high."

According to Agarwal, the seeding mixture contained only 20% silver iodide, with the rest made up of salts. He added, "This trial has given more confidence to our team that we can continue conducting them."

Forecasts had been mixed. "There have been conflicting reports of the predictions about rain today. Some say there will be rain, some say there won't be," Agarwal noted. "But what our team found was that the cloud cover had very little moisture content... So we do not expect any rain to occur today."

Two more flights are planned for Wednesday, with the team hoping for better conditions. "The process will continue when there is cloud cover," Agarwal said.

Ashwary Tiwari, an amateur meteorologist who runs IndiaMetSky on X, pointed out that the IIT Kanpur report only referred to "possible" rainfall in Noida and Greater Noida. "The report cites Windy, which does not show actual rainfall. It is a forecasting model... which gives forecasted rain based on the model simulation," he said. Tiwari emphasized that actual rainfall would require verification through rain gauges or automated weather systems.

The IIT Kanpur report noted that "moisture content predicted by IMD and other agencies remained low at 10-15%, which is not an ideal condition for cloud seeding." Still, it added, "this situation is also suitable for judging the effectiveness of the seeding material in low-moisture conditions."

While the skies remained dry, the experiment marked a new chapter in Delhi's fight against pollution-one where science, not certainty, leads the way. More trials are expected, and with them, the hope that future clouds may be more generous.