Cloud seeding fails, sparks storm: AAP, BJP trade barbs over Delhi’s ₹1.28-crore ‘rain’ experiment

New Delhi: The skies over Delhi stayed stubbornly dry on Tuesday even as a small aircraft from IIT Kanpur darted over Burari, Mayur Vihar, and Noida—firing 16 flares of silver iodide and sodium chloride compounds in an ambitious bid to seed clouds and spark rainfall.

The experiment, costing around ₹1.28 crore for two sorties, was part of the Delhi government’s new plan to tackle toxic winter pollution. While Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa hailed the trial as a “science-first success,” the weather — and the opposition — didn’t quite agree.

“Delhi has taken an unprecedented step by using science to fight pollution,” Sirsa said. “We’re evaluating how much rainfall can be induced under real-life humidity conditions.”

However, the skies refused to cooperate. No measurable rainfall was recorded by official stations, though an IIT Kanpur report cited “trace precipitation” of 0.1mm over Noida and 0.2mm over Greater Noida—data drawn from the Windy app, which relies on model simulations, not real gauges.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj mocked the exercise, asking, “Will Lord Indra come down to clarify whether it’s artificial or natural rain?” He accused the BJP-led government of “wasting public money on theatrics” when the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had already forecast rain chances.

Ironically, it was the AAP government that first floated the idea in 2023 but never executed it, citing a lack of the Centre’s clearance. Sirsa later accused AAP of “only talking, never doing.”

Experts, meanwhile, have poured cold water on Delhi’s ambitions. IIT Delhi’s Shahzad Gani called it a “futile attempt,” arguing that cloud seeding is “scientifically uncertain and practically useless” during Delhi’s dry winter months.

The IIT Kanpur team acknowledged the odds: humidity remained at just 10–15%, far below ideal levels for cloud formation. Still, the report claimed a small dip in PM2.5 levels post-seeding — from 230 to around 206 at some stations — possibly due to heavier moisture settling dust particles.

Residents in Burari, however, saw none of that science translate into relief. “They said it would rain today, but it didn’t,” said Rajiv Kumar, a bakery owner. “It’s still dusty, and everyone’s coughing.” As Delhi’s skies stayed gray but dry, the only storm that gathered was political.