New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday lashed out at the Delhi government’s winter cloud seeding experiment, calling it a “cruel joke” with negligible impact on air quality, reported maktoobmedia. The party accused the BJP-led administration of ignoring scientific advice and spending ₹34 crore on a project that delivered only short-lived and minor improvements.
Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh cited a December 2024 Rajya Sabha reply to highlight objections raised by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and the India Meteorological Department (IMD). He said all three agencies had opposed the proposal, warning that cloud seeding during Delhi’s cold and dry winters was scientifically unsound.
“Winter clouds in the region are primarily formed due to Western Disturbances (WD), which are short-lived and travel from west to east. When low clouds form due to WDs, they typically result in natural rainfall over northwest India, eliminating the need for cloud seeding. High-altitude clouds, which are typically at elevations above 5–6 km, cannot be seeded due to aircraft limitations,” the expert opinion stated. It also noted that the dry atmospheric layer beneath such clouds could cause any precipitation to evaporate before reaching the ground.
Concerns were also raised about the efficacy and potential adverse effects of cloud seeding chemicals. Ramesh referenced an October 31, 2025, report from IIT Delhi’s Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, which concluded that the initiative would have negligible impact on Delhi’s toxic air.
“Winter cloud seeding may sound impressive, but when scientific evidence dismisses its effectiveness, it turns into nothing more than a headline-grabbing stunt,” Ramesh said. “A slight improvement over a small area for a day or two is hardly a solution—it’s a cruel joke.”
The criticism came two days after Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa defended the initiative, claiming “science-driven action and enforcement” were yielding results. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta also dismissed allegations of data manipulation, stating that pollution data “cannot be tampered with.”
Opposition parties continue to accuse the Delhi government of wasting public funds on untested methods and using publicity stunts to deflect attention from the worsening pollution crisis.