A multi-crore, high-stakes effort to alleviate the capital’s ‘very poor’ air quality via induced rain fell flat on Tuesday, notwithstanding two consecutive cloud-seeding trials. The trial, which the exercise is estimated to have cost the government Rs 1.2 crore for the day’s sorties, immediately sparked a new political battle, with the opposition taking a tongue-in-cheek jab at the BJP government.
Rs 1.2 Crore Trials Cause Failure to Induce Precipitation
Two cloud seeding experiments were conducted over northwest Delhi and NCR areas such as Burari, Mayur Vihar, and Noida in a small, single-propeller Cessna aircraft flown by IIT Kanpur. The aircraft released flares with silver iodide and sodium chloride compounds into clouds.
But though Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa termed the process “successful,” the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) measured no rain in Delhi until late evening.
Important Technical Facts:
Cost Per Trial: The Delhi Cabinet had already sanctioned ₹3.21 crore for conducting five trials, and on average, they would do each trial at around ₹64 lakh. The two trials conducted on Tuesday together cost about ₹1.28 crore.
Procedure: The Cessna aircraft released a total of 16 flares (eight in each experiment) to trigger precipitation.
Scientific Challenge: A report from the government identified that the IMD-forecast moisture content was critically low, at 10-15 per cent only, which is non-ideal for efficient cloud seeding. The Environment Minister also accepted that rain will not be heavy because humidity would be as low as 15−20 per cent.
Reduction in Particulate Matter Claimed
In spite of the inability to generate rain, the officially released government report stated that the cloud seeding experiments did result in a decrease in particulate matter in the particular areas where the exercise was conducted.
Minister Sirsa was optimistic in his tone, saying that the government is making an “unprecedented, science-first step” to battle pollution. He further stated that 9 to 10 more such experiments are scheduled within the coming days, focusing on northern regions according to IMD wind direction predictions.
AAP Takes ‘Lord Indra’ Dig at Ruling Party
The costly, rain-free experiment gave the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) new ammunition, making the scientific endeavor a political hot potato.
The AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj criticised the scheduling of trials on a day when the IMD had already predicted natural rain. “Will Lord Indra descend to make it clear whether it is artificial rain or natural rain?” Bharadwaj joked at a press conference, indirectly pointing a finger at the BJP for possible fraud.
This development continues a political slugfest, as the current ruling party has previously criticised the AAP for only “talking about such plans” without action during its tenure, which saw the cloud seeding proposal shelved citing unfavourable conditions.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
