Overview
- The October 28 aircraft sorties with IIT Kanpur released silver iodide and salt flares, producing about 0.3 mm of rain over Noida and Greater Noida and none over central Delhi due to insufficient moisture.
- IIT Delhi’s Centre for Atmospheric Sciences reported on October 31 that winter cloud seeding would not deliver significant air-quality gains for the city.
- Delhi officials cite about Rs 60 lakh for the sorties, while opposition leaders allege a Rs 34 crore outlay for the broader effort, a figure the government has not confirmed.
- A December 2024 Rajya Sabha reply recorded that CAQM, CPCB and IMD had advised against winter seeding for Delhi’s pollution control.
- Scientists and campaigners say any rain-driven relief would be brief and cannot replace emissions cuts, and note that evidence on widespread silver iodide impacts remains limited according to the US EPA.