New Delhi resident Chaitanya masks his face while cycling, for fear of being affected by the smog:
– I hope the government does something instead of just passing the blame, he tells Reuters.
New Delhi is usually described as the world’s most polluted capital and the dense smog has been over the city for a week.
– In northern India, high pressure and dry weather dominate. In connection with the high pressure, the air is mixed very little and in large cities particles from traffic, industry and construction dust collect in the air. Due to air pollution, air quality deteriorates a lot, says SVT’s meteorologist Deana Bajic, who previously worked with cloud seeding.
Weather manipulation is used for various purposes
Schools have been closed, construction work has been suspended and vehicle traffic has been restricted. Those measures – in combination with cloud seeding – are hoped to remedy the acute problem. The method involves manipulating precipitation that will drag the smog particles in the air towards the ground.
It is the first time that New Delhi is testing the weather technology that has been used by other countries for many years, for example by China, the United States, Indonesia and Malaysia. Cloud seeding has been used for several different purposes, for example to improve the conditions for agriculture, or to control the weather conditions during major sporting events.
– The process is complicated and requires special atmospheric conditions, it is also very expensive, says SVT’s meteorologist Deana Bajic about the chances for New Delhi to succeed in clearing the air by manipulating rain.