The Delhi government’s latest bid to induce artificial rain to fight winter pollution has failed to produce results, despite spending over Rs 1 crore on three cloud seeding trials with IIT Kanpur.

Trials conducted on October 23 and 28 brought no measurable rainfall, as experts cited low moisture levels (10–15%), far below the 50–60% humidity needed for success.

IIT Kanpur estimates that full-scale cloud seeding over the entire winter could cost Rs 25–30 crore, an amount critics call excessive for a measure that offers, at best, one or two days of pollution relief, reports India Today.

Environmentalists and scientists have questioned the scientific validity and cost-effectiveness of cloud seeding, urging the government to focus instead on long-term solutions such as curbing stubble burni

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