- By Chetna Shree
- Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:45 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Delhi Cloud Seeding: Following the failure of two cloud seeding trials, Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, on Wednesday said that the next trial in Delhi will be attempted only when moisture levels in clouds reach 40 to 50 per cent. Earlier today, the Delhi government had paused the exercise citing “low moisture” levels in clouds.
Agarwal further stated that such high moisture levels are not expected tomorrow, October 30, but expressed optimism that they may occur within the next three to four days.
Speaking to news agency ANI, he said, “We are hoping for a cloud cover over the next 4-5 days, and we have kept the aircraft ready in Meerut so that at short notice we can fly. Generally, it will be in the East and North parts of Delhi only. We cannot go West or South because of the airport, and we can't go to the Central area because of the VIP area.”
#WATCH | Delhi: On Delhi cloud seeding, Manindra Agrawal, Director, IIT Kanpur, says, "We tried it yesterday but unfortunately could not get rains because the moisture content in clouds was quite low at 15%. We then thought that we'd do it today with the expectation that we'd get… pic.twitter.com/oDTyLCLdcZ
— ANI (@ANI) October 29, 2025
“It also depends on the wind speed and in which direction the wind is taking the clouds... I understand the disappointment in people because they were hoping and expecting it to rain. All I can say is we'll keep trying, and we hope that we can get a good cloud cover and we can make it rain,” he added.
Cloud Seeding Trial In Delhi Fails To Bring Rain
Earlier on Tuesday, two cloud seeding trials were conducted in collaboration with IIT Kanpur in an effort to induce rain in the national capital. Two aircraft, each carrying eight flares loaded with salt-based and silver iodide compounds, hovered over the city’s northwestern areas to carry out cloud seeding operations.
However, the trials did not result in any rainfall. IIT Kanpur, which conducted the trials, stated that the exercise cost Rs 60 lakh. The Delhi government spent about Rs 1.28 crore for the first two cloud seeding trials to trigger artificial rain in the city.
Earlier in May, the Delhi cabinet approved the project, allocating Rs 3.21 crore for five trials, with each trial projected to cost around Rs 64 lakh.