New Delhi — In a desperate bid to tackle its annual public health crisis, India has conducted its first-ever cloud seeding trial over Delhi, attempting to trigger artificial rain to cleanse the city’s toxic air.
City authorities, working with scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, used a Cessna aircraft to spray special chemical flares into the clouds above Delhi’s northern Burari area on Thursday afternoon. The move marks the beginning of what officials hope could become a game-changing tool against the capital’s lethal smog.
“A trial seeding flight was done in which cloud seeding flares were fired,” said Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, noting that the exercise tested the aircraft’s readiness, equipment endurance, and coordination among multiple agencies. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta added that if weather conditions hold, the city could see its first artificial rainfall by October 29.
Officials have not disclosed the exact chemical composition used in the test, though cloud seeding typically involves silver iodide or salt-based compounds to encourage water droplets to form and fall as rain.
The experiment comes amid some of the worst air pollution levels of the year, with PM2.5 concentrations — microscopic particles small enough to enter the bloodstream — soaring to over 60 times the World Health Organization’s safe limit.
Following Diwali celebrations last week, the city’s air turned even more toxic as fireworks added to an already heavy load of emissions from crop burning, traffic, and factories. On Thursday morning, air quality monitors recorded PM2.5 levels above 150 micrograms per cubic metre, ten times higher than WHO recommendations.
New Delhi, home to nearly 30 million people, routinely ranks among the world’s most polluted capitals, where winter smog turns the skyline into a grey haze and residents struggle with respiratory illness, heart disease, and eye irritation.
The environmental toll is visible even on the city’s monuments. A recent study found that Delhi’s 17th-century Red Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is slowly turning black, corroded by years of chemical pollutants and soot settling on its red sandstone walls.
While cloud seeding has been used in various countries since the 1940s — from China’s 2008 Olympic Games to drought-stricken regions in the U.S. — scientists remain divided over its effectiveness and long-term impact. Some studies suggest that while it can induce rainfall under optimal conditions, the benefits are often short-lived and highly localized.
Still, for Delhi, where pollution levels routinely reach life-threatening levels, the move signals both innovation and urgency. As Chief Minister Gupta put it, “If it rains, even a little, it will be a breath of relief — literally — for millions.”