📅 May 8, 2025, Post 9: Engineering the Sky: Delhi’s Cloud Seeding Gamble Against Pollution | Mains Essay / Target IAS-26 MCQs Attached: A complete Package, Dear Aspirants!
Engineering the Sky: Delhi’s Cloud Seeding Gamble Against Pollution
NEWS DROP — PETAL 010
🗓️ Date: May 8, 2025
🌦️ Thematic Focus: GS3 – Environment, Pollution Control | Science & Technology
🌿 Intro Whisper:
When the earth suffocates, the sky becomes a laboratory—and rain, a remedy engineered.
🔍 Key Highlights:
- What’s in News:
The Delhi Cabinet has approved a ₹3.21 crore pilot project to conduct five cloud-seeding trials across the National Capital Region (NCR) in an urgent bid to combat air pollution.
☁️ What is Cloud Seeding?
- A weather modification technique to enhance rainfall or improve atmospheric conditions by stimulating clouds to precipitate.
- Seeding Agents:
➤ Silver Iodide
➤ Potassium Iodide
➤ Dry Ice (Solid CO₂)
➤ Liquid Propane - Delivery Methods:
➤ Aircraft
➤ Rockets
➤ Ground-based generators - Purposes:
✔️ Increase rainfall
✔️ Control hailstorms
✔️ Settle particulate matter and reduce pollution
🌫️ Why Now in Delhi?
- Delhi experiences hazardous air quality, especially during winter.
- Cloud seeding may temporarily settle pollutants by forcing artificial rainfall, improving visibility and public health.
- Trials align with seasonal cloud conditions and aim to evaluate feasibility for future deployment.
✅ Favorable Conditions Required:
- Presence of cloud cover (cannot generate clouds from clear skies)
- Temperature range: Between -10°C and -12°C
- Low wind speeds to stabilize chemical dispersal
- Most effective in hilly or mountainous regions but adapted for NCR due to urgency
⚠️ Concerns and Limitations:
- Chemical Impact: Risk of soil or water contamination, especially affecting agriculture
- Rainfall Redistribution: Rain in one area might divert natural rain from neighboring zones
- Cost: Involves high logistical expenditure and demands expertise in meteorology
📘 GS Paper Mapping:
- GS Paper 3: Environmental Technology; Air Pollution Mitigation
- GS Paper 2: Public Health; Urban Governance
- Essay: “Tinkering with the Sky: Cloud Seeding and the Ethics of Weather Control”
🌠 Closing Thought:
To clear the smog, we must rise above it—yet in doing so, must remember that nature, even when nudged, never forgets.
Target IAS-26: Daily MCQs :
📌 Prelims Practice MCQs
Topic:
MCQ 1: Type-1 — “How many of the above statements are correct?”
Consider the following statements regarding cloud seeding as a pollution mitigation strategy:
1. Cloud seeding introduces substances like silver iodide or dry ice into clouds to induce rainfall.
2. Cloud seeding is effective even in clear skies with no cloud cover.
3. The Delhi government recently approved a multi-crore budget for conducting cloud-seeding trials.
4. Artificial rain created through cloud seeding helps settle atmospheric particulate matter.
A) Only two
B) Only three
C) All four
D) Only one
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation
✅ Correct Answer: B) Only three
🧠 Explanation:
1) Correct – These are common seeding agents used to enhance precipitation.
2) Incorrect – Cloud seeding requires existing cloud systems; it cannot generate rain in clear skies.
3) Correct – ₹3.21 crore was approved for five cloud-seeding trials in NCR.
4) Correct – Artificial rain can temporarily reduce pollution by bringing down dust and particulates.
MCQ 2: Type-2 — Two-Statement Assertion
Consider the following statements:
1. Cloud seeding is most effective when atmospheric temperatures range between -10°C and -12°C.
2. It is a low-cost, long-term solution to India’s air pollution crisis.
A) Only 1 is correct
B) Only 2 is correct
C) Both are correct
D) Neither is correct
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation
✅ Correct Answer: A) Only 1 is correct
🧠 Explanation:
1) Correct – These temperature conditions are ideal for effective seeding. 2) Incorrect – It is a high-cost, short-term intervention, not a sustainable long-term solution.
MCQ 3: Type-3 — “Which of the above statements is/are correct?”
Consider the following statements about the challenges of cloud seeding:
1. Chemicals used in cloud seeding may contaminate soil and water.
2. Artificial rain in one region may reduce natural rainfall in adjacent areas.
3. Specialized aircraft and meteorological timing are required for precise execution.
4. Cloud seeding can be performed at any time, regardless of weather conditions.
Which of the above statements are correct?
A) 1, 2 and 3 only
B) 2 and 4 only
C) 1, 3 and 4 only
D) All four
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation
✅ Correct Answer: A) 1, 2 and 3 only
🧠 Explanation:
1) Correct – There are concerns about long-term ecological impact.
2) Correct – Rain redistribution is a known side effect.
3) Correct – Cloud seeding is complex and cost-intensive.
4) Incorrect – It requires suitable clouds; not all weather conditions qualify.
MCQ 4: Type-4 — Direct Factual Question
What is the primary goal of cloud seeding in Delhi’s NCR region?
A) Generate snowfall to cool the air
B) Induce artificial rain to reduce air pollution
C) Enhance winter tourism in surrounding hills
D) Prevent cyclones in the Bay of Bengal
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation.
✅ Correct Answer: B) Induce artificial rain to reduce air pollution
🧠 Explanation:
B) The Delhi government is trialing cloud seeding as a pollution control strategy to settle airborne particulates.
