Cloud seeding trials for artificial rain by month-end, will use IIT-Kanpur’s aircraft, says Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa | Delhi News

NEW DELHI: Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the proposal to conduct cloud seeding in Delhi will be tabled at the next cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He added that two trials of artificial rain in the city will be carried out by the end of this month in the GT Karnal Road area. Each aircraft sortie for cloud seeding will cover a minimum area of 100 square kilometres and will last around 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Cloud seeding is a weather-modification technique that introduces substances into the air to aggregate and condense moisture particles into rain.

“Though there have been talks of conducting artificial rain for the past few years, this will be the first time trials for cloud seeding will be conducted in Delhi. After the proposal is approved by the cabinet, we will seek permission from all agencies,” Sirsa said, adding that the two trials will cost around Rs 3.2 crore.
The trials will be executed by IIT-Kanpur. “For the trials, we will use IIT-Kanpur’s aircraft, which has the necessary permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and can remain airborne for around five hours. Their modified aircraft, equipped with a mist sprinkler, aims to cover a minimum of 100 square kilometres per sortie,” the minister added.
“After the trial of artificial rain, we will also collect water samples and conduct a proper study to ensure that there are no harmful chemicals in it. Depending on the success of the trial, we plan to induce artificial rain in the winter season,” Sirsa said, adding that based on global studies and an earlier trial by IIT-Kanpur, the success rate was around 60–70%.
Sirsa has already held a meeting with key agencies to seek necessary permissions for the project
An official said the amount of seeding mixture required will depend on the cloud’s moisture content, which can range between 50% and 80%. Scientists may use anywhere from 8–10 flares to 20–30 flares, with each flare containing around 500 grams of seeding material.

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