The Congress youth wing filed a police complaint in Delhi on Wednesday against alleged “rain theft” and alleged that the Delhi Govt. ₹A cloud seeding experiment for 1.25 million clouds failed to bring showers to the city.
However, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa insisted that the cloud seeding attempts were successful and accused the opposition of being “envious” of the BJP-led government’s success.
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The national capital on Tuesday conducted cloud-seeding operations for the first time in 53 years to induce artificial rain amid worsening pollution levels, though the meteorological department reported no measurable rainfall.
The Delhi government in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur conducted the exams in parts of Delhi including Burari, North Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar and Badli. A government report said two rainfall events were recorded — Noida at 4 pm (0.1 mm of rain) and Greater Noida at 4 pm (0.2 mm).
Here is what the Indian Youth Congress had to say
According to an official statement by the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), the president of its Delhi unit, Akshay Lakra, filed a complaint at the Parliament Street police station demanding an FIR and an investigation into what he described as “rain theft” after the cloud-sowing trial.
“Planes took off from Kanpur to Delhi in the name of cloud spreading and the BJP government put out big advertisements promising rain within 15 to 20 minutes to provide relief from pollution. But no such rain was seen anywhere in Delhi, so we have come to file a complaint against this rain theft,” said Lakra.
The complaint calls for an investigation into whether “unknown persons intercepted or diverted” the rain and demands accountability for public funds spent on the operation.
It also urges the police to coordinate with the meteorological department and IIT-Kanpur to trace the cause of the “missing rainfall”.
However, officials involved in the cloud seeding project claimed that the process was carried out according to scientific protocol and the results depend on atmospheric conditions, which cannot always guarantee immediate precipitation.
They said the operation was aimed at testing feasibility and collecting data for future interventions.
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Lakra urged Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to “refrain from misleading the people” and focus on effective measures to curb pollution. “The people of Delhi deserve answers and at least a few drops of the rain they were promised,” he said.
The Delhi government has completed two consecutive cloud deployment operations as part of its robust air quality management strategy.
Airplanes took off in the name of cloud seeding and the BJP government put out big advertisements promising rain within 15 to 20 minutes.
Cloud seeding is the advanced science of weather modification, the purpose of which is to trigger or enhance precipitation from suitable clouds by introducing selected particles – such as silver iodide or sodium chloride – by aircraft or other means.
