Cloud seeding or cloud chasing? AAP alleges Delhi’s rain trial was for publicity

T he Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday questioned the Delhi government’s recent cloud seeding experiment, alleging that no rainfall was recorded despite claims of artificial rain and calling the initiative a “publicity-driven activity.”

The Delhi government, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, conducted the trials on Tuesday in several parts of the city, including Burari, North Karol Bagh, and Badli. This marked the first cloud seeding attempt in the national capital after a gap of 53 years.

According to Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the exercise was undertaken to explore scientific and technological solutions to combat air pollution. He stated that preliminary analysis indicated a reduction in particulate matter concentrations in the regions where the trials were conducted, even though weather conditions were not favourable for rainfall.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said that there was no rain recorded in any of the areas mentioned by the government. He referred to earlier statements made in Parliament, where three central government institutions had reportedly said that cloud seeding was not suitable for Delhi due to its meteorological and chemical conditions.

“When these agencies had already stated that cloud seeding cannot be done in Delhi, what was the need for such an exercise now?” Bharadwaj asked, alleging that public money was being spent on a venture aimed at publicity rather than results.

The government, however, maintained that the project was part of ongoing efforts to study innovative pollution control measures in the capital.

There was no immediate response from the Delhi government to the AAP’s allegations at the time of reporting.