ET Bureau

The much-awaited plan for creating artificial rains to combat Delhi’s pollution may be washed out, at least for now. The clearances from multiple government departments for flying the Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) aircraft to conduct the never-attempted experiment to seed clouds are there only till November 25.The forecast for Delhi is of almost clear skies on the date, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).“There is no indication of rain clouds till November 25,” confirmed BP Yadav, deputy director general of IMD. To make things worse for the prospects of artificial rain, the aircraft to carry out the artificial rains experiment is also needed to carry out pilots in the run-up to the Chandrayaan 2 mission. Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second indigenous mission to the moon comprising an orbiter, lander and rover, slated to launch early next year.“The aircraft is also needed for Chandrayaan 2 preparation. We will have to again seek permission from multiple government bodies through National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC),” said a professor at IIT Kanpur who did not wish to be named.ISRO did not respond to ET questionnaire till press-time Thursday.So far, November 13 had been the best day for cloud seeding when the clouds were at an optimum height and adequately dense, according to the experts at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur involved with the cloud seeding project. But by that time, the clearances for the aircraft had not come through.“Clouds should be dense and at a low height of 2 or 2.5 kilometre to create artificial rains,” said Sachchida Nand Tripathi, a professor at IIT Kanpur, working closely with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and IMD for artificial rains.“We have been ready for a few weeks with our cloud-seeding solution but this project depends on many factors such as availability of aircraft to help seed the clouds, pilot and adequate cloud cover,” said Tripathi.For the past few days, the cloud cover hasn’t been conducive to artificial rains. The aircraft had been unavailable on other days as the clearances from multiple government departments hadn’t come through.The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change had received a request on November 12 from Hyderabad-based NRSC — a centre of Indian Space Research Organisation — to fly the aircraft to Delhi for cloud seeding.Several approvals are needed from four government departments: the Directorate General of Civil Aviation , the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force headquarters, and the Intelligence Bureau. DGCA approval came only by November 19 while the rest were already in, said a senior official familiar with the development, who didn’t want to be identified.ET had reported on the wait for clearances to fly the aircraft on November 14 (Rain-maker aircraft awaits key clearances). ET had also reported on the plan to create artificial rains for Delhi on November 6 (“Pollution: Here’s a Plan to Wash Away Delhi’s Toxic Air”).The Ministry of Environment has been coordinating this initiative with government departments concerned along with IIT Kanpur and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).