The much-hyped artificial rains and cloud seeding in the national Capital was a failure as the moisture content in the clouds was reportedly low. The Delhi Government, though, declared it a success. The first trial was completed by 2pm on Tuesday; for the second trial, the flight took off from Meerut around 4pm and completed the trial in an hour.
Soon after the first trial, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said IIT-Kanpur has opined that rain could happen within 15 minutes to four hours after the exercise. “The rainfall won’t be heavy since the humidity levels were only at 15 to 20 per cent,” the minister said. However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows there was no rainfall recorded in Delhi till 5.30 pm.
However, Singh Sirsa on Tuesday claimed that a cloud seeding trial was conducted successfully in several areas of Delhi, including Khekra, Burari, North Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar, Sadakpur, and Bhojpur. Detailing how the exercise was carried out, Sirsa said the Cessna aircraft took off from Kanpur, adding it released eight fire flares each weighing 2 to 2.5 kilograms and the trial lasted for half an hour. Each flare lasted for two to two-and-a-half minutes, he said. According to officials, during the trial, silver iodide and sodium chloride compounds were released from the aircraft to induce artificial rain.
Nine to 10 such trials are planned over the next few days. Since the IMD has informed that the wind direction is towards the north, areas falling under that region are being targeted.
The Government had conducted a test flight over Burari last week. However, due to low atmospheric moisture of less than 20 per cent, as against the 50 per cent typically required for cloud seeding, rainfall could not be induced. Environmentalists have termed the cloud-seeding trial a short-term measure, saying it may temporarily reduce pollution but fails to address the root causes of the Capital’s deteriorating air quality. The opposition AAP mocked the exercise, calling it a tactic to “steal Lord Indra’s (rain god’s) credit”, even as the BJP hailed the move to tackle the pollution crisis.
Historically, the first cloud seeding trial in the national capital was conducted during the monsoon of 1957, while the second attempt was made during the winter of the early 1970s, according to climate scientist Roxy Mathew Koll from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). In 1972, silver iodide particles released from ground-based generators acted as tiny nuclei around which moisture condensed to form raindrops, according to an IITM report.