Delhi May See Cloud Seeding Today Amid 'Very Poor' AQI: Sources

The national capital Delhi may see artificial rain today as a thick layer of smog continues to engulf the city, with the air quality index (AQI) at 308, falling under the 'very poor' category. An attempt will be made today if clouds are spotted over Delhi, top sources at IIT Kanpur told NDTV.

According to sources, an aircraft fitted with cloud seeding equipment is ready at IIT Kanpur. It will take about an hour to reach Delhi. Another aircraft is on standby in Delhi. Depending on the height of clouds, the plane would be activated. It all depends on the amount of moisture present in the air.

Since there is no rain in Delhi right now and no forecast of rain either, experts have suggested cloud seeding and inducing artificial rain to bring down pollution levels. 

Cloud Seeding Explained

Cloud seeding is the process of adding special substances like silver iodide and dry ice to clouds to make it rain or snow in areas experiencing water scarcity, less snowfall, or to reduce hail and clear fog. It can be done using airplanes, rockets, or machines on the ground.

Artificial rain brought in by cloud seeding helps reduce pollution levels but does it tackle the problem at its source? No.

"We aren't tackling pollution at the source, so cloud seeding will not help reduce pollution levels in the long run. We can deploy it on days when pollution levels skyrocket, for example, a day after Diwali, but it isn't a solution," Sunil Dahiya, Founder and Lead Analyst at Envirocatalysts, had told NDTV.

Past Cloud Seeding Experiments

Earlier, on November 5, it was reported that the Delhi government had conducted two rounds of cloud-seeding trials near the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the last 15 days as part of its efforts to explore artificial rain as a possible measure to tackle rising air pollution.

The trials were conducted at an altitude of approximately 30,000 metres, significantly higher than the altitude of around 10,000 metres at which cloud-seeding operations were carried out last year.

The cloud seeding project was first rolled out last year under a collaboration between the Delhi government and IIT Kanpur, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), as an emergency measure during peak pollution episodes.

After months of delays due to unfavourable weather and regulatory clearances, two rounds of trials were conducted in late October 2025, but they didn't yield results.

IIT Kanpur, in its assessment, attributed the outcome to low moisture levels in the clouds, noting that conditions were not conducive to precipitation.