Seven tons of oil burned, but Radha did not dance. Despite the efforts to create rain by spreading chemicals in the clouds, with much fanfare and huge expenditure, the capital Delhi was not bathed in rain.

However, the BJP government in Delhi spent Rs 3 crore 21 lakh for this. IIT Kanpur says that it may not have rained, but they have been able to collect a lot of scientific data.

The BJP government has come under criticism after failing to reduce the capital’s severe pollution levels by pouring artificial rain.

Experts say that instead of pursuing temporary relief, the government should focus on the source of pollution. The reasons that make Delhi uninhabitable from the beginning of Hemant to the entire winter season every year should be stopped. There is no need to waste money on artificial rain like this.

No government in Delhi has been able to stop the burning of firecrackers during Diwali. Yet, there was an attempt by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. There was also an attempt by environmental activists. Various attempts were made to stop the burning of firecrackers by filing cases. That effort gave birth to pollution-free firecrackers. ‘Green crackers’ were created. Although, behind its cover, polluting firecrackers have also been sold. As a result, pollution has been created as usual.

The BJP government, which came to power in Delhi, has also put a damper on that effort. Hindutva organizations started promoting the burning of firecrackers along with Sanatan Dharma, and those who initiated the ban on firecrackers are against Sanatan Dharma. Whether that propaganda had any effect or not is another matter, as it turned out that the Supreme Court could not completely ban firecrackers. As a result, like every year, the sky and air of Delhi were covered in a thick layer of smoke after Diwali. Pollution became excessive.

To get rid of this pollution, artificial rain was organized. The Aam Aadmi government also thought of taking this initiative, but could not implement it. The BJP did it. The state government allocated more than three crore rupees for this project. The responsibility was given to IIT Kanpur.

On Tuesday, IIT Kanpur flew a Cessna aircraft over Delhi in two phases. The aircraft dropped a chemical mixture of dry ice, silver iodide, iodized salt and rock salt into the clouds to create water droplets. The water droplets will fall as rain from the capital’s skies.

Yesterday, IIT Kanpur was set to work on that. But the wait all day was over. Not a single drop of rain was seen in Delhi. In Noida, Uttar Pradesh, on the outskirts of Delhi, it rained like a sprinkling of peace water. The amount was 0.1 milliliters.

Experts from IIT said that this ‘cloud seeding’, which is a process of artificial rain, will start raining within 15 to 30 minutes of its completion. Sometimes it can happen even after 2 hours. However, for favorable conditions for rain, the humidity in the air needs to be more than 20 percent.

However, explaining why there was no rain despite waiting the whole day, IIT Kanpur Director Maninder Agarwal said in an interview with NDTV, “Yesterday, the humidity in Delhi’s air was only 15 to 20 percent. That is, very little, so there was no rain.”

Manindra said that the process will continue today. It cannot be said that their efforts have been completely unsuccessful. They have collected a lot of information through this test.

The expert said that their tests were not a complete failure. It did not rain, but 15 monitoring stations showed that the amount of fine dust particles in the air, known as PM 2.5, had decreased by 6 to 10 percent.

Maninder Agarwal said in the interview that artificial rain cannot be the answer to dealing with Delhi’s pollution. This measure is purely temporary. The only way to reduce the rate at which pollution is increasing in Delhi is to stop the source of pollution. Various environmentalists have said the same thing. The fact is that although everyone knows what needs to be done, no one is able to do it.

The burning of crop stubble in the fields of western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab cannot be stopped. The burning of firecrackers during various religious ceremonies, weddings and other events including Diwali cannot be stopped. The measures to prevent the dust and sand from construction work from spreading into the air cannot be controlled either. The dumping of industrial waste into the Yamuna cannot be stopped.

China is the first country in the world to successfully use cloud seeding. It is producing rain in arid regions including Beijing. Apart from China, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have also used this method to produce rain.

Pakistan has also had some success with this method in polluted cities like Lahore. Although experts do not forget to remind us that this is a temporary solution. It lasts for at most two to three days. Then the situation returns to the way it was. Moreover, this method is very costly.