Delhi Govt Plans Artificial Rain to Curb Alarming Air Pollution

New Delhi: The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government is planning to conduct artificial rain in Delhi on November 20-21 to reduce alarming air pollution in the capital city region.

The air quality index in Delhi has been in the ‘severe’ category for the past one week due to crop residue burning in neighbouring states and vehicular emissions.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai and Finance Minister Atishi held a meeting with a team from IIT Kanpur, which proposed that a spell of artificial rain may help reduce air pollution in Delhi.

“The IIT team has said that a minimum of 40 per cent cloud cover is necessary to create artificial rain. There is a possibility of a cloud cover on November 20-21. They have told us that if we get permission to implement this plan, we can conduct a pilot study,” said Gopal Rai.

The Delhi government has now asked the IIT team for a detailed plan, which will be submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday. If approved by the Supreme Court, the Delhi government and the centre will take steps to for artificial rain.