Pollution Control Board on Delhi's Smog CrisisHot Buzz

November 23, 2024 14:37
Pollution Control Board on Delhi's Smog Crisis

(Image source from: ANI)

The Central Pollution Control Board has stated that the feasibility of cloud seeding, proposed by IIT Kanpur as an emergency measure to address Delhi's severe air pollution, is limited. The CPCB cited insufficient moisture in the air and the reliance on pre-existing clouds influenced by Western Disturbances as significant challenges. The CPCB noted that successful cloud seeding requires the availability of clouds with adequate moisture content, which is often lacking in northern India during the winter season, thereby limiting the effectiveness of this approach.

Rai has written multiple letters to his counterpart Bhupender Yadav, urging the government to consider cloud seeding as a potential solution and hold a meeting on the matter. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates that the proposed cloud seeding experiment will cost around ₹ 3 crore. The plan includes a minimum coverage area of 100 square kilometers and involves five cloud seeding attempts. A presentation on the proposal was made by a team from IIT Kanpur to the Delhi government on November 8, 2023. The presentation outlined the involvement of 12 key agencies, including Defence, Home, and Environment. IIT Kanpur had previously conducted successful cloud seeding trials in the summer of 2017, achieving precipitation in six out of seven attempts. The proposed trials in Delhi aim to build on the findings of those earlier experiments. Light-intensity rains in Delhi in November last year helped reduce the PM2.5 levels.

The air quality improved, with PM2.5 levels decreasing from 95 micrograms per cubic meter to a lower concentration during that time. Similarly, PM10 levels dropped significantly from 501 micrograms per cubic meter to 167 micrograms per cubic meter over the same period. The cloud seeding proposal has received mixed reactions from environmental activists. One supporter, Amit Gupta, who filed an RTI, urged the government to proceed with the trials quickly, stating that it's time to try this approach since other solutions haven't worked for Delhi's pollution crisis. He said that if IIT Kanpur has succeeded with cloud seeding, the government should also implement it. In contrast, environmentalist Verhaen Khanna dismissed the experiment as ineffective and potentially harmful. Khanna argued that the better option is to stop producing pollution in the first place and prevent tree-cutting in Delhi, as hundreds of trees are being cut down, which would otherwise help reduce pollution. Additionally, Khanna raised concerns about the use of silver iodide, the chemical used in cloud seeding, warning of its harmful effects on humans.

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