'No response to our appeals': Gopal Rai urges Centre to give its approval on artificial rain

New Delhi: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said he has written to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav four times, seeking urgent clearances for cloud seeding to artificially induce rain that could help combat the escalating pollution crisis in the national capital.

Amid Delhi’s worsening air quality, which has plunged into the “severe plus” category with an AQI consistently above 450, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday called for immediate intervention from the central government.

“Despite repeated requests through letters on August 30, October 10, and October 23, the Union Environment Minister has not taken cognisance of the situation or responded to the Delhi government’s appeals," Rai said in his latest letter.

Addressing a press conference, Rai said the Centre has not acted on the Delhi government's repeated requests to allow artificial rain in the national capital and he will again write to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.

"Delhi is under GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) Stage IV restrictions, and we are taking every possible step to reduce vehicular and industrial pollution. Restrictions have been imposed on private vehicles and trucks, aiming to curb the number of vehicles entering the city."

Rai said while the GRAP-IV restrictions are being enforced to tackle the alarming levels of pollution, the thick smog layer engulfing the city can only be broken by wind or rain.

He said artificial rain, facilitated through cloud seeding, is a viable emergency measure that the Delhi government is ready to fund but cannot proceed without clearances from key central agencies such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Defence.

“Delhi cannot get relief from pollution unless we break the smog layer. Cloud seeding can help mitigate the crisis and provide immediate relief to citizens,” Rai said.

The Delhi government collaborated with IIT Kanpur last year to explore cloud seeding as an emergency pollution control measure.

However, it faced procedural hurdles with regard to clearances from central authorities.

Emphasising the urgency of the current situation, Rai said in his letter, “I request the Union Environment Minister to convene an emergency meeting with all stakeholders, including IIT Kanpur and relevant central agencies, to fast-track the clearances required for artificial rain.”

Earlier during a press briefing, Rai alleged that the BJP-led central government is deliberately ignoring the health crisis in north India, adding that “its apathy is both disheartening and disturbing.”

Rai also criticised the Union Environment Minister, stating, “Maybe if I had written to the environment minister of another nation, they would have responded sooner than our own government.”

Rai had earlier called on Modi to intervene in the matter and said it was his moral responsibility to act.

"If the central government cannot act, then their (environment) minister should resign," he added.