Delhi's ambitious first attempt at cloud seeding on Tuesday, a desperate measure to combat the city's alarming air pollution levels, has failed to yield any positive results. Despite spraying clouds with seeding agents via a Cessna aircraft in the afternoon, no rain was observed in any part of the capital several hours later. This setback not only complicates efforts to alleviate pollution but also ignites a fresh political debate in the region.
Reasons for Failure and Future Plans
Confirming the unsuccessful outcome, the Director of IIT Kanpur stated that the cloud seeding attempt in Delhi today didn't succeed, while the primary reason cited for the failure was the low humidity content within the clouds, which prevented seeding agents like silver iodide from effectively nucleating moisture for rain formation. Despite this initial disappointment, hope isn't lost. Two more cloud seeding trials are scheduled for Wednesday, with experts hoping that more favorable cloud conditions, particularly higher humidity, will allow for a successful outcome this time.
Areas Targeted During the Trial
The Cessna aircraft, which took off from Kanpur, conducted cloud seeding operations over several designated areas in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), while the initial phase began from IIT Kanpur, followed by the Meerut airfield. Subsequent targets included Khekra, Burari, North Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar, Sadakpur, and Bhojpur. However, despite these extensive efforts, no rainfall was reported in any of these areas, unequivocally confirming the failure of the initial phase of the experiment.
