Artificial Rain India, Air Pollution India Artificial Rain, Artificial Rain India AQI, Gurugram Artificial Rain AQI: Multiple states of India including the National Capital Delhi have been witnessing an alarming increase in Air Pollution for the past few days. Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and many cities of various states have become a gas chamber as the AQI levels of these places remain from poor to serve category. The most alarming situation is in Delhi and Chandigarh. The situation has become so bad in Delhi that the administration has enforced GRAP 3 in the UT under which many activities have been banned and even schools have been shut down for primary-level students.
While Delhi and other areas remain under a thick layer of fog, people are continuously checking the weather department forecast expecting an optimum amount of rain. It is the rain that can not only reduce smog but also can give a respite from the Air Pollution. Since, rain is generally unpredictable, the question arises whether Artificial Rain can tackle the problem in India or not like it did for Dubai during the summers.
Can Artificial Rain tackle Air Pollution in India?
A few days back multiple videos surfaced on social media of 'artificial rain' at a housing community in Gurugram. It was carried to reduce the layer of smog and improve the region's AQI.
The artificial rain initiative was carried out by the DLF Primus Society of Gurugram, in Sector-82, by raining water from the fire lines of a 32-floor high-rise building to combat pollution. While there was no evidence that the rain decreased pollution levels in the area, it left some Delhi residents wondering whether they could try a similar method.
As per Business Insider, the Delhi Government has been considering the idea of employing artificial rain using cloud-seeding. It is a method of triggering rain by seeding clouds with salts – to fight the pollution. However, due to unfavourable weather conditions, the plan reportedly fell off last year too.
As per News 18, experts have ruled out artificial rain as a sustainable solution to pollution problems of Delhi and India. The experts pointed out that although it may improve air quality slightly for some hours or a day or two depending on meteorological factors, the AQI will go up again. Once polluted particles settle in again from nearby areas, the AQI of the region will go up again, resulting in a waste of resources and energy deployed to induce artificial rain. However, artificial rain is not a bad option when the situation goes extreme.
How has Artificial rain helped Dubai?
In 2021, scientists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) used new drone technology to zap clouds with electricity, in an attempt to bring increased rainfall to the desert country. At that time, UAE was witnessing a massive heatwave roasting residents in temperatures of 50C. Its National Center of Meteorology started trialing using drone technology, which unleashes electrical charges into clouds. Such a method, known as cloud seeding, prompts the clouds to clump together and form precipitation.