Delhi cloud seeding trials purely an experiment: Earth Sciences secretary

Pune: The recent cloud seeding trials in New Delhi were purely an experiment, said M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), on Sunday, stressing that such tests are essential to assess their feasibility before making them operational.

Such experiments can end in success or failure, he said.

Pune, Maharashtra: Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary Dr. M. Ravichandran says, "This is an experiment. It is not a free experiment. They are trying. Everybody is trying different things. Some universities are trying. Some institutes are trying. It doesn't mean that everything… pic.twitter.com/K4Q6Td0tjj

— IANS (@ians_india) November 2, 2025

Ravichandran was at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune to attend the 11th WMO Scientific Conference on Weather Modification.

Last month, the Delhi government, in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, conducted cloud seeding trials in parts of the national capital, to ease the city’s air pollution crisis.

Also read: Exclusive: Why Rekha Gupta pressed ahead with cloud seeding despite Centre’s 2024 caution

However, the Congress has criticised the move, saying getting slight improvement in a limited area for a day or two as is now being claimed is a “cruel joke”.

Responding to a query concerning the cloud seeding trials, Ravichandran called them purely an experiment and said such experiments tend to have either positive or negative outcomes.

“Everybody is trying different things -- universities are trying, some institutes are trying. Only through such experiments and trials will we gain information. That was purely an experiment.

“Experiments can have both types of outcomes -- failure or success -- and it does not mean that we should refrain from conducting them,” he said.

He added that before going operational or semi-operational as far as cloud seeding is concerned, there is a need to understand more about it.

Asked if there should be some policy before conducting such experiments, he said that when somebody comes up with new knowledge and technology, and even if it fails, it provides knowledge and information for future research work.

The conference focused on weather modification, with special emphasis on scientific advances, including Artificial Intelligence, in the field, said officials.