Indian officials mull using artificial rain to improve air quality in New Delhi

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - Indian authorities are thinking about producing artificial rain to improve the air quality in New Delhi where air pollution levels continue to remain in the most severe category, according to the Delhi government.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology in Uttar Pradesh state are discussing the possibility of Cloud Seeding - Artificial rain” to mitigate “the prevalent air pollution,” it said.

Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai told reporters the government is expecting a proposal Thursday from scientists.

New Delhi has been reeling under smog for days, which has increased the air quality to alarming levels and prompted officials to take strict measures, including closing schools and banning construction activities.

Environmentalists said cloud seeding for rain-making is common but it is probably the first time it is being done in India for air pollution.

The prerequisite is that seeding clouds, or at least some kind of clouds, should be present in the atmosphere, they said.

“Weather authorities have predicted westerly disturbance related activities and subsequent formation of clouds sometime during Nov. 20 - 21. The officials are contemplating using a cloud seeding experiment, which inject some kind of chemicals into these clouds where CCN (Cloud Condensation Nuclei) are already present, leading to the conversion of vapour to droplets which may further lead to artificial rains to improve the air quality,” India’s top environmentalist Gufran Beig told Anadolu. “In my opinion, the science of such experiments is in a nascent stage and success is not guaranteed but we need to see how much impact it would create to lower the air pollution levels in Delhi.”

Air pollution has become a seasonal problem in New Delhi in recent years. The air quality becomes worse mostly during the winter from November to January.

India’s top court directed states neighboring New Delhi to take steps to stop farm fires which are contributing to rising air pollution.

Stubble burning is considered a major contributing factor to air pollution. Farmers in northern India set fire to their fields at the onset of winter to clear crop stubble from harvested rice paddies.

A government-issued weather bulletin said Thursday that the air quality in New Delhi remained in the “Severe category” with the Air Quality Index at 426 out of 500 on Wednesday.

The air quality is likely to remain in the “very poor to severe category” for the next six days, it said.

The Federal Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change said last week that unfavorable meteorological conditions, very high incidents of farm fires and low-speed north-westerly winds moving pollutants to New Delhi are the major causes for a sudden spike in the Air Quality Index.

As the pollution level in the capital remains high, it is also bringing misery to the residents.

“Following the advice of the doctor, my parents have stopped going out on a walk,” Ankit Kumar told Anadolu. “This week, we had to even purchase an air purifier because the pollution levels are too high.”

The situation is becoming worrying for parents as doctors have urged precaution in view of the rising pollution.

“There is the need that parents should take utmost care,” pediatrician and neontologist Somalika Pal told Anadolu. She said the use of air purifiers, a healthy lifestyle, fluids and staying indoors are prescribed because of the air quality levels in New Delhi.

“Several studies and meta analyses have demonstrated the adverse effects of ambient air pollution on the entire spectrum of childhood,” she said.