NEW DELHI: Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has ruled out an immediate plan for cloud seeding to curb air pollution in the winter months, saying that the seeding will only be possible “when there are clouds”.
Responding to the criticism of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the issue, he said on Tuesday, “Cloud seeding happens only when there are clouds. First come the clouds, then comes the seeding. Without clouds, cloud seeding is scientifically impossible. People should understand science before making political statements.” He added, “The day there are clouds, there will be seeding done, and there will be rain as well.”
He added that from the Yamuna cleaning to real-time air monitoring on high-rise buildings, every initiative of the government was aimed at reducing pollution.“Those spreading misinformation must understand that Delhi is changing, and the results are visible,” he said.
AAP has alleged the Rekha Gupta-government failed to conduct artificial rainfall even as Delhi’s air turned toxic. On Tuesday, its Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj and former environment minister Gopal Rai questioned why the BJP government did not follow through on its own promise to cleanse the air through artificial rain.
“Does the BJP government want the people of Delhi to fall sick?” Bharadwaj asked, reminding that the ruling party had claimed it would carry out artificial rainfall immediately after Diwali to bring pollution under control, but did nothing. “The government had claimed that they would induce artificial rain after Diwali to control pollution, but no such rain took place. If the BJP government truly had the capacity and had made a promise to make it happen, why did they not do it? Does the BJP government want the people of Delhi to fall sick and rush to private hospitals?” Bharadwaj asked.
He further pointed out that the BJP government was working hand-in-glove with private hospitals, deliberately weakening facilities in government hospitals as part of a plan to shut them down.
Earlier, the Delhi government had said that it was preparing to conduct the much-anticipated artificial rain through cloud seeding this week, as air quality in the national capital worsened, partly due to the use of firecrackers during Diwali on Monday.
According to sources, the Gupta government was expecting a green signal from the meteorological department for this exercise between October 24 and 26, as weather conditions during that period are expected to be favourable.
The Delhi environment minister had recently confirmed that the first trial of artificial rain through cloud seeding would be held after Diwali, once the Indian Meteorological Department gave a green signal to the project.
