DGCA nod in, but cloud seeding pushed to Aug-end now
Delhi govt has also finalised a tentative flight plan with a map of the area over which the cloud seeding experiment will be conducted. The sorties have been planned over Alipur, Bawana, Rohini, Burari, Pavi Sadakpur and parts of Eastern Peripheral Expressway. A fully equipped aircraft, VT-IIT (Cessna 206-H), and a trained crew are ready to get deployed. The sorties will focus on areas most likely to support low-altitude cloud formation and high pollution retention, according to Delhi govt.
Calling the move "historic", environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the DGCA nod made Delhi the first city in the country to get clearance for cloud seeding. "Cloud seeding has been spoken about for years but never implemented. For 10 years, it remained on paper. We took this up, coordinated with 13 departments, secured all approvals, including from DGCA, and now Delhi will finally witness cloud seeding between Aug 30 and Sept 10.
This is a historic achievement," he said.
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The original DGCA clearance was for the July 4-11 experiment, but the input from India Meteorological Department and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, suggested that monsoon cloud patterns during this window might not support optimal cloud seeding, Sira said. As a result, IIT Kanpur, in consultation with Delhi govt, requested for the better suited window of Aug 30-Sept 10.
Cloud seeding is a weather-modification measure that introduces substances into the air to aggregate and condense moisture particles into rain. In this technique, elements such as silver iodide (AgI) are released into the atmosphere to aid the formation of ice crystals that lead to rain.
The Delhi cabinet, on May 7, approved a proposal to conduct five trials with a total project outlay of Rs 3.21 crore. The trials were initially to be carried out in late May and early June in collaboration with IIT Kanpur.
Sirsa emphasised that the trials were part of a larger, data-driven strategy under Environment Action Plan 2025 to combat Delhi's poor air quality during the winter. "These trials, scheduled for late Aug and early Sept, are scientifically timed to gather data, which will be vital to calibrating and scaling up efforts during the Oct-Dec period, when Delhi typically faces increased AQI levels," he explained.
Taking a dig at the previous administrations, Sirsa said, "While they only wrote letters for 10 years, we've secured clearances after conducting multiple marathon meetings and follow-ups with every required agency in just four months. The aircraft is ready, the equipment is in place, and the pilots are trained."
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