Delhi Air Crisis: Urgent Call for Cloud Seeding

Environment Minister Gopal Rai has urged the central government to consider cloud seeding as a solution to combat worsening air pollution in Delhi. With the city's air quality deteriorating to hazardous levels, Rai emphasized the need for emergency measures, calling for a stakeholders' meeting to address the crisis.

Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai has once again pressed the central government to convene a meeting of all stakeholders to consider cloud seeding as a means to alleviate air pollution in the national capital. In a letter addressed to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Rai highlighted the urgent need for emergency measures amidst Delhi's increasingly hazardous air quality.

The city's Air Quality Index (AQI) has plummeted to 363, falling into the 'very poor' category, and a thick layer of smog now blankets the area. In response, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has implemented stage two of the Graded Response Action Plan, restricting the use of coal and diesel generators.

Rai's letter calls attention to the potential benefits of cloud seeding, a method previously considered but not yet implemented due to the required clearances from central agencies. He underscored the necessity of collaboration between relevant bodies like the CPCB and India Meteorological Department to address what could escalate into a severe air quality crisis in November.

(With inputs from agencies.)