In the wake of rising pollution in the city, authorities might seed clouds to induce artificial rain to wash away toxic pollutants in the air, although no exact date has been set.
Delhi's air quality has deteriorated to alarming levels in the past three weeks while the overall air quality in the national capital was in the 'very poor' category on Tuesday, with some areas in the city experienced 'severe' pollution.
Cloud seeding for artificial rain would be done once the meteorological conditions are stable, a senior official said.
He said plans are to induce rainfall this week, but if the meteorological conditions are not found suitable then it would be done next week.
However, a senior Environment Ministry official said, "No exact date has been set for this. This is a possible solution. We will give more details about it."
A senior official said seeing the meteorological conditions there is no possibility of inducing artificial rain.
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"Even for artificial rain, we need clouds and currently the meteorological conditions are not favourable for inducing an artificial rain," he said.
He also said that the method of artificial rain is used only in 'severe plus' emergency situation.
Cloud seeding is the process of combining different kinds of chemical agents, including silver iodide, dry ice and even common table salt, with existing clouds in an effort to thicken them and increase the chance of rainfall.
The weathermen are monitoring conditions to become favourable for creating artificial rain, which can be induced in 24 hours, the official said.
Delhi's air quality was recorded in the 'very poor' category on Tuesday due to humidity and slow wind speed.
The overall air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 372, which falls in the 'very poor' category, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.
In 2016, the government tried to explore the possibility of cloud seeding for artificial rain but the plan never worked out.
Last year, the government had proposed the possibility of reducing dust by watering Delhi from a helicopter to Union Environment minister Harsh Vardhan.
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