Delhi’s Cloud-Seeding Experiment to Combat Pollution Fails Due to Low Moisture
Delhi conducted five cloud-seeding trials in October 2025 using chemicals like silver iodide to induce artificial rain and reduce severe air pollution. The efforts failed because the clouds had insufficient moisture, about 15%, far below the 50% needed for effective rain formation. The government plans to resume the experiment when conditions improve, aiming to wash away pollutants in the city's notoriously poor air quality during winter.
In October 2025, the Delhi government partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur to conduct an experimental cloud-seeding project aimed at producing artificial rain to alleviate the capital's severe air pollution. Over three attempts, chemicals including common salt, rock salt, and silver iodide were dispersed from aircraft over six outer neighborhoods in hopes of triggering rainfall within four hours. However, the trials failed because the clouds contained only about 15% moisture, much lower than the minimum 50% moisture required for cloud-seeding to be effective. The government canceled the final two planned trials but intends to try again when moisture levels rise. Cloud-seeding is a weather modification technique previously used in India for drought management and by Beijing during the 2008 Olympics to reduce pollution. Delhi’s winter air pollution is exacerbated by geographic factors—its bowl-like topography traps pollutants—and by human activities such as construction dust, vehicle emissions, Diwali fireworks, and crop stubble burning in nearby states. Despite ongoing debate about the viability of cloud-seeding during Delhi’s dry winter months, officials remain optimistic about future attempts when conditions improve. The estimated project cost was around $400,000, reflecting the government’s commitment to finding solutions to the city’s hazardous air quality problem.
