Cloud seeding can’t happen without clouds: Minister Sirsa amid jibes from AAP over Delhi pollution

This comes a week after the minister had said the city’s much-anticipated first trial of artificial rain through cloud seeding would be held after Diwali, once the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) gives a green light.

Earlier in the day, the AAP shared a video of Delhi convener Saurabh Bharadwaj saying that the “BJP’s ‘artificial rain’ promise turned out to be empty rhetoric”.

“The government made a promise to reduce pollution with artificial rain after Diwali. Has it happened? Does the government want Delhiites to fall ill and go to private hospitals… to fill pockets of private hospitals?” the former AAP MLA told news agency ANI in the video.

The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) at 4 pm on Tuesday was 351 (very poor), up from 345 on Monday. An analysis of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 trends over the years carried out by research and advisory group Climate Trends showed that post-Diwali pollution levels this year were the highest in five years.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, meanwhile, asserted that her government was serious about taking effective measures to curb pollution.

Stating that several effective measures are being implemented to ensure that the health of citizens, especially children and the elderly, remains unaffected, she said: “To reduce dust pollution, 1,000 water sprinklers and 140 anti-smog guns have been deployed across the city. Mechanical road cleaning is being carried out using 70 mechanical road sweepers and advanced super-sucker machines equipped with water-spraying systems. Additionally, the Delhi government has intensified inspections at construction and demolition sites to ensure strict compliance with dust control regulations.”

The post-Diwali pollution spike also sparked a war of words between the BJP and AAP after Sirsa accused the AAP-led Punjab government of allegedly forcing farmers to burn stubble and causing AQI to spike. Hitting back, Bharadwaj said that accusing Punjab’s Sikh farmers is shameful and a sin.

Sirsa also accused the AAP of blaming Diwali for the spike in air quality levels to appease a particular community, calling it “the words of those who admire Aurangzeb and Akbar”.

“They are deliberately bringing Diwali, Sanatan Dharma, and Hinduism into the picture… Arvind Kejriwal first deliberately banned firecrackers in Delhi to garner the votes of a particular community, to appease them. Since this morning, Arvind Kejriwal’s entire team has been constantly cursing Diwali… Sanjay Singh and his colleagues have been tweeting since last night, asking to stop celebrating Diwali,” Sirsa alleged.

During the press conference, he also highlighted major interventions by the government in tackling pollution.

He said, “The Delhi government has removed 27 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste, introduced stringent monitoring for all construction sites over 500 square metres, and expanded the electric/CNG bus fleet significantly. Despite an 8% rise in new vehicle registrations and 21% growth in construction, pollution levels remain under control.”