Responding to Delhi government’s artificial rain trial, environmental experts have called it a short-term measure. Environmentalists have said that this may reduce pollution temporarily, but it will not solve the root causes of the deteriorating air quality in the national capital. In fact, the Delhi government, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, conducted a trial on Tuesday (28 October) to provide artificial rainfall in some parts of the city.

Environmentalist Vimalendu Jha said, “Rain can reduce pollution, but it is only a temporary solution, which can provide relief for a few days. This cannot be done every time.” He said that the government should focus on tackling pollution at the grassroots level.

Artificial rain also affects soil and water bodies – Expert

Vimalendu Jha questioned, “Artificial rain also affects the soil and water bodies because chemicals like sulfur and iodide are sprayed for it. Moreover, this approach is city-specific, what about pollutants coming from neighboring states?”

Author and clean air advocate Jyoti Pandey Lavrey compared the artificial rain test to previous short-term measures such as ‘smog towers’. He said, “The only way to reduce pollution is to reduce emissions, for which no one is ready.” Adding chemicals to clouds or air is for show, not for real change,” he said, adding that recent policy decisions like withdrawal of emission norms for thermal power plants have weakened pollution control efforts.

‘Such options should not be seen as solutions’

Kriti Gupta, another environmentalist, said that such options can be considered, but should not be seen as solutions in themselves. “We should be prepared for scientific trials, but should not prioritize them as the only option,” he said. Citizen awareness, reduced use of private transport, control of dust sources and better waste management are necessary for sustainable improvement.

Artificial rain trial to provide relief from air pollution

Artificial rain was tested on Tuesday in an effort to provide relief to Delhi from air pollution. Last week also, the aircraft had carried out a test flight to spray chemicals for artificial rain in Burari area. During this period, limited spraying of silver iodide and sodium chloride compounds was done. However, the effort did not succeed due to atmospheric moisture levels being less than 20 percent, compared to 50 percent required for successful artificial rainfall.

What is cloud seeding: The area of ​​Delhi and its surroundings struggles with poisonous air every year in winter. Smog, dust and polluting particles dissolve in such a quantity in the air that it becomes difficult to breathe. Governments and scientists have been looking for such measures for a long time that this pollution can be reduced quickly and effectively. One of these measures is cloud seeding technology which helps to clean the air by making artificial rain.

What is cloud seeding?

Cloud seeding is a scientific technique in which clouds are motivated to rain. Normally rain occurs only when the water vapor in the clouds gets enough cool and turns into water drops or ice crystals. But when this process is not done naturally in the atmosphere, then scientists interfere in it.

In cloud seeding, particles such as silver iodide, sodium chloride or dry ice are released into clouds through plane or rocket. These particles attract moisture and increase the chances of rain by adding drops to each other.

Why is this technology necessary in Delhi?

The pollution of Delhi reaches dangerous levels every year. The amount of micro particles like PM 2.5 and PM10 in the air increases so much that even masks are not fully capable of stopping them. In such a situation, if artificial rains are made, then this particles sit on the ground and the air becomes clean.

Not only this, due to rain, soil moisture increases and dust is reduced. At the same time, the layer of smog breaks and people get relief. This is the reason that Delhi government and scientific institutions are working seriously on cloud seeding.

Benefits of cloud seeding

• Artificial rain reduces the toxic particles spread in the air.
• Lack of water can be overcome by bringing rain in dried areas.
• Farmers can get relief if there is no rain on time.
• This technique can be helpful in controlling the weather.

What are the problems

Cloud seeding is not as easy as hearing. For this, it is important that there are already enough clouds in the sky. If there are no clouds, then this technique proves ineffective. Apart from this, debate is also going on about the impact on the environment and health of the chemicals used in it. Also, this technology is very expensive, so it is challenging to apply it on a large scale.

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