China has done cloud seeding 27,000 times: Can it be repeated in Delhi? Expert answers

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Delhi is once again exploring artificial rain as pollution worsens. An economist explains what China's experience reveals about its potential and limitations.

As Delhi struggles with another spell of hazardous air pollution, cloud seeding is once again being considered as a possible way to bring temporary relief.

China, however, has taken the technique much further, carrying out nearly 27,000 cloud-seeding operations since 2013. Could Delhi replicate that experience? Delhi's Humayun's Tomb is seen shrouded in a blanket of pollution as AQI rises in the capital. (Photo: PTI)

Speaking to India Today, Economist Michael Greenstone, who created the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), said evidence from China's experience shows that cloud seeding can increase rainfall in targeted areas, lower air pollution and even reduce extreme temperatures.

"I want to emphasise, it's [cloud seeding] a short-term measure, and it's at the expense of your neighbour," he said.

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