The Delhi government, along with IIT Kanpur, has so far done three trials, on October 23 and two on October 28, without any of them yielding any substantial rain in the capital. (Image Source: NewsX)
Is it worth crores to spend on a light rain, and that too for an initiative with almost dismal chances of success? That's the first question environmentalists are posing after three attempts at cloud seeding in the National Capital did not result in artificial rain in an effort to address the city's increasingly poor air quality.
The Delhi government, along with IIT Kanpur, has so far done three trials, on October 23 and two on October 28, without any of them yielding any substantial rain in the capital.
As per IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agarwal, the total expense of the two trials on October 28 carried out across 300 sq km stood around Rs 60 lakh. It works out to approximately Rs 20,000 per sq km.
For five such trials during winter, when Delhi air becomes poisonous and dust fills the horizon, the Delhi government had budgeted Rs 3.21 crore. Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, however, stated that IIT Kanpur would carry out up to nine trials from this budget.
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If we take a simple calculation, nine trials for Rs 3.21 crore amount to about Rs 35.67 lakh per trial. So with three trials already done, an amount of Rs 1.07 crore has already been spent without Delhi even witnessing a single drop of rain.
The IIT Kanpur director did admit, though, that the present cost per attempt was a "little high" due to fixed costs like aircraft upkeep, pilot charges, and expensive fuel for flights between Delhi and Kanpur, which are about 400 km apart.
Agarwal emphasized that expenses would reduce if the flights took off from Delhi and cloud seeding was done over a longer duration. He put the cost of cloud seeding over the national capital for the whole winter season at approximately Rs 25-30 crore.
"If the trials are done for the whole winter season, and assuming clouds come once in 10 days, the cost would be approximately Rs 25 crore to Rs 30 crore," said the director of IIT Kanpur.
Agarwal explained the sum was "not very substantial" when compared to Delhi's total pollution-control budget of approximately Rs 300 crore. But for a temporary measure like cloud seeding, whose effectiveness in purifying poisonous air is doubtful, the sum is considerable.
Include in it other incidental costs such as cloud seeding modifications in an aircraft, logistics, and other preparatory arrangements. Currently, no aircraft in India is equipped for cloud seeding.
In addition, equipment and consumables such as a flare rack (used for dispersing the silver iodide mixture), cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), a scanning mobility particle sizer, a microwave radiometer, radiosonde balloons, and sensors amount to approximately Rs 5.30 crore.
Pilot charges, crew bills, and their insurance are over and above, which means the entire operation is an expensive affair.
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