The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday sharply criticized the Delhi government’s recent cloud seeding experiment, claiming that despite official announcements of artificial rain, no rainfall was recorded in any part of the city. The cloud seeding trials, conducted on Tuesday after a 53-year gap in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, covered areas such as Burari, north Karol Bagh, and Badli. The initiative was aimed at combating Delhi’s worsening air pollution by inducing rainfall to reduce airborne particulate matter. However, AAP leaders alleged that the exercise failed to deliver tangible results, raising doubts over its scientific and financial justification.

Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa defended the move, stating that the project was part of an ongoing scientific exploration to develop long-term solutions to pollution. He said that while the weather conditions were not ideal for rainfall, preliminary analysis showed a noticeable dip in particulate matter levels in the targeted areas. The trials, according to Sirsa, were meant to test the viability of cloud seeding under Delhi’s unique meteorological conditions, not guarantee rain in the first attempt. He described the operation as a necessary experiment to assess whether artificial rain could ever be a sustainable air-cleaning mechanism for the capital.

At a press conference, AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned the decision to conduct the trials despite prior warnings from central agencies. He cited earlier Parliamentary statements in which three national institutions had clarified that cloud seeding was unsuitable for Delhi’s atmosphere due to unfavorable meteorological and chemical factors. Bharadwaj accused the government of turning the exercise into a “publicity-driven activity” that wasted taxpayer money. The Delhi government has not yet issued a formal response to AAP’s allegations, though experts say the incident underscores the challenges of using artificial weather modification to solve complex urban environmental issues.