Delhi Tests Artificial Rain Again as Pollution Builds

About 30,000 metres above Delhi, two reported cloud-seeding trials took place near Indira Gandhi International Airport in the past 15 days. The experiments are part of the government’s search for ways to ease the capital’s worsening air pollution. Their results, including any effect on pollution, have not been established. ¹

Those two trials follow Delhi’s first cloud-seeding effort, run with IIT Kanpur in October 2025. The team released eight flares containing silver iodide and sodium chloride in each of two operations, but neither produced rain. The government later said particle pollution fell at the targeted sites, though the cause of the drop was not established. Cloud seeding can only encourage rain when clouds and weather conditions are suitable. ^1,18

That unproven pollution effect matters as Delhi’s air faces a much more immediate test. The city’s average AQI reached 369 on Thursday, November 5, while 18 of its 59 monitoring stations recorded severe air; Jahangirpuri reached 454. Forecasters expect the citywide reading to enter the severe range from Friday through Sunday. Diwali fireworks, farm fires, traffic and weather that slows pollution from clearing add to the risk.^3,4 The readings point to a problem with many sources, not one that an experimental rain-making effort can settle.

Those many sources will remain the focus after Diwali, when the government may hold more trials following both Diwali and Chhath. Officials have not publicly confirmed the latest operations, and the outcome of the tests is still unknown. Last year’s failure to bring rain shows the method’s limits. It depends on suitable clouds, and even a pollution drop would need to be linked to the trials before artificial rain could be treated as a proven fix. ^1,18