Overview
- On October 28, the Delhi government and IIT Kanpur conducted aircraft-based cloud seeding using silver iodide and sodium chloride flares to try to reduce pollution.
- The operation produced about 0.3 mm of rain over Noida and Greater Noida and none over central Delhi, with IIT Kanpur reporting a short-lived 6–10% dip in PM2.5 and PM10 at monitors.
- An October 31 IIT Delhi analysis and earlier advice from CAQM, CPCB and IMD cautioned that winter seeding is unlikely to materially improve the capital’s air quality.
- Congress leaders led by Jairam Ramesh denounced the effort as wasteful, citing a Rs 34 crore figure, while the Delhi environment minister said under ₹1 crore has been spent on a handful of sorties under a ₹3.4 crore agreement.
- At a WMO weather‑modification conference in Pune, the Ministry of Earth Sciences said the Delhi trials were purely experimental and announced plans for an IITM cloud chamber to support further research.