- Delhi will initiate its first cloud seeding flights in August after DGCA approval
- Trials are scheduled between August 30 and September 10, revised from July
- Cloud seeding aims to tackle pollution and gather data ahead of winter smog season
Delhi is set to witness its first-ever cloud seeding flights starting this August after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted final approval for airborne trials.
The announcement was made by Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who confirmed that the trials will now take place between August 30 and September 10, revised from the earlier July window, following expert recommendations by IMD and IITM Pune.
Mr Sirsa said, "Cloud seeding has remained on paper for nearly a decade. We have changed that. Delhi is now the first state to get DGCA clearance for pollution mitigation-based cloud seeding. This is not just an experiment, it's a declaration that Delhi refuses to live with toxic air."
"The August-September sorties are timed to gather data ahead of the winter smog season. If the results are promising, we will scale up cloud seeding operations during October to December, when AQI levels are at their worst," he added.
Operation Details And Flight Plan
The cloud seeding flights will be carried out using aircraft VT-IIT (Cessna 206-H), operated by a trained crew from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Kanpur. The sortie routes will cover pollution-vulnerable areas including Alipur, Bawana, Rohini, Burari, Pavi Sadakpur, Kundli border zones and segments along the Eastern Peripheral Expressway.
According to the Mr Sirsa, these regions were selected based on atmospheric studies pointing to high particulate matter retention and favorable cloud formation during the late monsoon transition.
The aircraft is fitted with cloud seeding instrumentation designed to disperse hygroscopic particles - such as sodium chloride - into the atmosphere to induce rainfall and aid pollutant washout from the lower atmosphere.
DGCA Conditions And Safety Protocols
The DGCA's conditional clearance comes with a detailed list of operational guidelines to ensure safety and regulatory compliance:
- All sorties must be conducted under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) with clear terrain visibility.
- Aerial photography or videography during flights is strictly prohibited.
- Aircraft must avoid restricted or notified airspaces unless additional permissions are obtained.
- Mandatory ATC clearances must be secured for all operations.
- A detailed record of every sortie must be maintained, and any incident or abnormality must be reported to the DGCA immediately.
- The operation will follow all directives under CAR Section 3, Series N, Part I and Air Transport Circular 1/2019.
Sirsa Attacks Previous Government
Taking a dig at the previous Aam Aadmi Party government, Mr Sirsa said, "They wrote letters for ten years. We conducted multi-agency meetings, navigated regulatory approvals, and got a DGCA nod within a record time. This is not just governance, it's governance with urgency."
