The decision of the Chief Minister Rekha Gupta-led BJP government to conduct cloud-seeding seems to have backfired with the national capital receiving no rain, and IIT Kanpur cancelling the third round of the process on Wednesday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now posed tough questions, blaming the saffron party for wasting taxpayers’ money. The BJP, on the other hand, maintains it succeeded in cloud seeding.

In an official statement, IIT Kanpur, said the result is highly dependent on the right atmospheric conditions. “While rainfall could not be triggered yesterday because moisture levels were around 15 to 20 per cent, the trial delivered valuable insights,” the institute said. It added that the monitoring stations set up across Delhi did capture real-time changes in particulate matter and moisture levels.

Cloud seeding is an advanced weather modification science, aimed at triggering or enhancing rainfall from suitable clouds by introducing selected particles–such as silver iodide or sodium chloride–using aircraft or other means. 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj has led a sharp attack on the Delhi government over its ongoing cloud seeding initiative. He asked, “Why is the Delhi government running this circus now?”. Bhardwaj mentioned the Centre had denied the permission for the exercise when the AAP government was in power in 2024.

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“The Rekha Gupta government has been running a cloud seeding circus for a number of days now…In December 2024, the Central government told the Delhi government that rain from cloud seeding was scientifically not possible in Delhi. Why is the Delhi govt running this circus now? Why is the govt wasting the taxpayers’ money?” the former Delhi minister asked.

“If there were any neutral organisations, this could become a CBI or ACB case. You are seeing that there has been no rain,” he added.

AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar also lashed out at the Rekha Gupta government over claims of light rainfall, and said, “It’s shameful that yesterday the BJP lied, claiming they had artificially rained in Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar, and Burari. When we checked, we found that not a single drop had fallen. Light rain is bound to happen anywhere, but the BJP also wants to take credit for real rain. The BJP has also committed a major scam in cloud seeding. The BJP doesn’t even know what measures to take because they work for optics and headline management.”

Delhi’s BJP govt backs on science

Explaining the future of the exercise, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the next trial of cloud seeding in the national capital will be held after moisture levels increase beyond the current 10 to 15 per cent.  He said it was actually “100% successful”.

“According to the IMD, there is still 10 to 15 per cent moisture. Yesterday, our trial was conducted at 10 to 15 per cent moisture, and now the next trial will be held when the moisture exceeds that level. As per IMD, the moisture is expected to increase further after 4:00 PM. Once the moisture report arrives, the next trial will begin immediately,” Sirsa told ANI.

He also hit out at the previous AAP government, and said, “A government that failed for ten years cannot praise us. They couldn’t clean the water, couldn’t clean the air, and couldn’t even ensure proper conditions for cloud seeding. They’ll try to obstruct everything we do.” 

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How much did cloud seeding cost Delhi?

IIT-Kanpur Director Manindra Agrawal on Wednesday explained in detail about the experiment. He said though the trial did not bring rain, it provided useful information, and asserted that the cost of the process was not much compared to the money spent on pollution control measures in the city.

“The trial was conducted over an area of 300 square kilometres. The overall cost of that, in my rough estimate, came to around Rs 60 lakh. It roughly comes to around Rs 20,000 per square kilometre,” he said.

“If we conduct the exercise over an area of 1,000 square kilometres, the cost would be around Rs 2 crore,” Agrawal explained in a video statement.

He said if the government decides to conduct it over the entire winter period, and assuming that clouds are present once in 10 days, the cost would come to around Rs 25 to Rs 30 crore. “That, in the overall scheme of things, is not a very large amount. The amount of money spent on pollution control in Delhi is quite large,” the IIT-Kanpur director said.

What does the data show?

IIT Kanpur said the experience led to a measurable reduction of 6 to 10 per cent in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, which they said prove that despite limited moisture conditions, cloud seeding can contribute to improved air quality.

“These observations strengthen our planning for future operations and allow us to better identify conditions where this intervention can deliver maximum benefit. Such learnings form the foundation for more effective deployments ahead,” the statement read, reported PTI.

The Delhi Government completed two consecutive cloud seeding operations as part of its robust air quality management strategy. Hailing the decision, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that with this move, the city has taken an unprecedented, science-first step by adopting cloud seeding as a tool to control air pollution.

Sirsa had said that rain after seeding could occur anytime in the next 24 hours, depending on cloud moisture. The preliminary results showed data from 20 selected monitoring sites across Delhi, with a primary focus on AQI, PM2.5 and PM10, the most direct pollution markers.

Before the first seeding: PM2.5 at Mayur Vihar, Karol Bagh, and Burari was 221, 230, and 229 ug/m³, which fell to 207, 206, and 203 ug/m³ respectively after the operation, press noted stated.PM10 at the same sites dropped from 207, 206, and 209 ug/m³ to 177, 163, and 177 ug/m³ post-seeding, the statement added.