Reportedly videos of artificial rain at a housing society in Gurugram caught people’s attention last week, while delhi was engulfed in apocalyptic smog after stubble burning, firecracker bursting, and other meteorological factors around diwali pushed air pollution levels to new highs. Although the rain was artificially created using sprinklers, it offered a glimmer of hope to residents in NCR, even though there is no empirical evidence to suggest that it reduced pollution levels in the area.
Meanwhile the delhi government has also been pushing for artificial rain using cloud-seeding the method of triggering rain by seeding clouds with salts – to fight the pollution, but the plan is yet to take off. The government came up with the idea last year as well, but the plan did not materialize due to unfavourable weather conditions. Reports spoke to eminent experts tracking air quality to understand if this artificial rain could be considered as an immediate solution for the capital’s winter problem since showers seem to improve the city’s air quality index (AQI) during monsoon.
Moreover experts do not view artificial rain as a sustainable solution to pollution problems and point out that it may improve air quality slightly for some hours or a day or two depending on meteorological factors, wherever it happens. But once polluted particles settle in again from nearby areas, the AQI will go up again, resulting in waste of resources and energy deployed to induce artificial rain.
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