The Delhi government has conducted two rounds of cloud-seeding trials near the Indira Gandhi International Airport over the past 15 days to explore the possibility of inducing artificial rain as a measure to combat rising air pollution in the national capital, government sources said.
The trials were carried out at an altitude of around 30,000 metres, significantly higher than the approximately 10,000-metre altitude at which cloud-seeding operations were conducted in Delhi last year, the sources said.
More trials are likely to be conducted after Diwali and Chhath, the sources said, adding that the government is unlikely to make any official announcement or confirmation regarding the proposed operations until after Diwali.
Cloud seeding is a weather-modification technique aimed at enhancing a cloud's ability to produce precipitation. It involves dispersing substances such as silver iodide and sodium chloride into suitable clouds to encourage the formation of raindrops or ice crystals.
The Delhi government had first rolled out its cloud-seeding project last year in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur as an emergency measure to explore ways to combat pollution during peak winter episodes.
The collaboration was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Delhi Environment Department and IIT Kanpur on September 25, 2025.
Two rounds of trials were conducted in October last year, with eight chemical flares containing silver iodide and sodium chloride released during each operation. However, the experiments did not result in rainfall.
The Delhi government subsequently released a report claiming that the trials had helped reduce particulate matter levels at the targeted locations despite the absence of rainfall.
(With Inputs from PTI)
