Artificial rain India news: The meteorologists and weather experts have said that the probability of success of such a rainfall experiment was very low from the beginning as the moisture content in the air was not enough.

For Delhiites, it may have raised hopes of witnessing rains like that iconic rain dance moment in Lagaan, the cult movie. The parched village where the movie was set witnesses long-awaited rains in a single shower that heralds victory. On Tuesday, some of them were hoping for a “victory” of sorts too — a shower to clear Delhi’s noxious air pollution cloud cover.

The idea of cloud seeding, as a quick fix for Delhi’s air quality, keeps coming up every few years with successive Delhi governments. It also becomes an idea that is dusted off every winter when stagnant cold air and feeble winds lead to smoke and pollutants from stubble burning and vehicular emissions not getting washed off. Artificial rain does clear suspended particles in the air, they say, but it’s a short-term relief, not a long-term solution for Delhi’s perennial air pollution problem.

For now, it’s the same old song each winter: smoggy blanket, haze, poor visibility, “gas chamber” headlines. It’s a vicious circle with Delhi’s air quality; despite doing things this way for years, little meaningful change seems to have happened.

Delhi to do Delhi smog control experiment in 2025

This year, Delhi’s new BJP-led government resurrected the cloud seeding Delhi failure proposal again in the wake of unrelenting Delhi pollution 2025 levels that for several weeks now have remained in the “very poor” to “severe” categories. This time, under Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government, the National Capital Territory had partnered with IIT Kanpur to conduct Delhi artificial rain trial runs between October and December for the experiment. The government had earmarked more than ₹3 crore for this.

On Tuesday, an IIT Kanpur aircraft had come down to Delhi from the 400-kilometre distance. The scientists in the team sprayed silver iodide mixture over clouds in Burari, Mayur Vihar, and Karol Bagh areas hoping for some rainfall.