Delhi’s cloud seeding attempt fails; fresh trial planned for tomorrow

New Delhi: Delhi’s first effort to trigger artificial rain for pollution control hasn’t worked. The Director of IIT Kanpur said Tuesday’s cloud seeding trial didn’t produce the desired result. The IIT Kanpur director said the attempt failed mainly because the clouds didn’t have enough moisture to trigger rainfall. The team, however, isn’t giving up yet. Two more flights will be sent out on Wednesday to try again.

What really happened when the plane took off?

A Cessna aircraft took off from Kanpur and released seeding material over several parts of Delhi and nearby regions — including Meerut Airfield, Khekra, Burari, North Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar, Sadakpur, and Bhojpur. But despite all the effort and planning, not a single drop of rain fell.

Why is the opposition calling it just a show?

The failed attempt quickly became political. Opposition leaders accused the Center of wasting public money and making false promises. AAP’s Delhi convener, Saurabh Bhardwaj, standing on the roof of the party office, said, "It's evening, but it hasn't rained yet."  He said the BJP government wanted headlines, not results. He cited the Meteorological Department’s report, which confirmed there wasn’t even a trace of rain anywhere in the city on Tuesday. He sarcastically added, "The Delhi government talked about artificial rain to take credit from Lord Indra, but even the clouds that were there have dispersed. Yesterday, there was a little drizzle during Chhath Puja, but today the artificial rain has shown no effect." Bhardwaj called this "even the rain is a fraud."

What did local leaders say about it?

Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar and Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha also rubbished the claims of rainfall. Both leaders said their constituencies remained completely dry and that the government’s announcement was misleading.

Did AAP leaders mock the attempt?

Taking a swipe at the government, Bhardwaj joked, “It’s already evening and still no rain.” He added that “the government tried to take credit from Lord Indra, but even the clouds disappeared.” He called the attempt “a rain fraud,” saying no signs of artificial rainfall were visible anywhere in the city.

Will the next round succeed?

Officials said two more cloud seeding trials are planned for Wednesday. They hope that if humidity levels rise, Delhi might finally see a few drops of relief.