NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has successfully tested cloud seeding in Burari, paving the way for the maiden run of artificial rain on October 29.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Thursday that all preparations for the full cloud seeding event, aimed at bringing down pollution level in the city, have been completed and the first instance of this exercise will take place on October 29, if conditions are favourable.
Gupta said in a tweet, “Preparations have been completed for the first time in Delhi to induce artificial rain through cloud seeding. Today, experts successfully tested it in the Burari area. The weather department has indicated the possibility of cloud presence on October 28, 29 and 30. If conditions remain favorable, Delhi will experience its first artificial rain on October 29.”
She added that this initiative is not only historic from a technical perspective, but is also set to establish a scientific method to combat pollution in the city. “The government’s objective is to make the capital’s air clean and the environment balanced through this innovation,” she said, congratulating Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and officials involved.
Sirsa was quick to explain the process involved in the trial run, saying, “Today, a trial seeding flight was done from IIT-Kanpur, to Delhi via Meerut, Khekra, Burari, Sadakpur, Bhojpur, Aligarh and back to IIT-Kanpur, in which cloud seeding flares were fired between Khekra and Burari and over Badli area.”
The development came a couple of days after Sirsa shared an update on the plan for artificial rain through cloud seeding, a long-awaited proposal to mitigate the annual air pollution crisis during winters. On Tuesday, he had ruled out an immediate plan for cloud seeding, saying it would be possible only “when there are clouds”.
