Lok Sabha Question No. 873 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-14
Subject: Artificial Rain to Reduce Pollution Level
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI, AJAY (TENI) MISRA, SANTOSH AHLAWAT, CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, BHARAT SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 873

TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.12.2018

## Artificial Rain to Reduce Pollution Level

## 873. SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

SHRI AJAY MISRA TENI:

SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRI BHARAT SINGH:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is planning to induce artificial rain to cure pollution level in Delhi, if so, the details thereof along with the details of the expenditure likely to be incurred for the purpose;
- (b) whether is it true that artificial rain can be as little as 25 to 30 minutes in light drizzle, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the extent to which the artificial rain is likely to reduce the problem of pollution in Delhi;
- (d) the  level  of  pollution  in  National  Capital  Region  (NCR),  Delhi  in  the  month  of November during the last five years; and
- (e)        whether this year burning of biomass Pellets by the nearby States of Delhi is not a reason of pollution in the Capital and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) PAAC-EPC  (Project  Appraisal  &  Approval  Committee  -  Environment  Protection Charge)  in  its  meeting  on  13 th November  2018  in-principle  approved  IIT,  Kanpur project  to  induce  artificial  rain  in  Delhi  at  the  cost  of  ₹  20  lakhs  plus  institute overhead,  GST  and  aircraft  related  expenses.  The  proposed  experiment  has  not  yet been conducted in Delhi.
- (b) & (c) The extent of artificial rain and its likely  impact  on reduction of  pollution in Delhi  can't  be  quantified  precisely  without  actually  carrying  out  the  experiment.  It has,  however,  been  generally  observed  that  rainfall  results  in  lowering  of  the concentration of the pollutants in the atmosphere.
- (d) Ambient air quality data under Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS)  for  Delhi  and  National  Capital  Region  (NCR)  for  the  month  of November during 2014-2018 is enclosed at Annexure-I.
- (e) As per System of Air Quality & Weather Forecasting & Research (SAFAR)- Model, estimated share of stubble burning in total PM2.5 for Delhi during kharif season is attached at Annexure-II . The estimated % share of stubble burning in PM2.5 reached to a high of 36% on 26 th October, 2018 and 33% on 5 th November, 2018.

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## Annexure-I

## CAAQMS data (PM2.5, PM10, SO2& NO2) for the month of November during 2014-2018 in Delhi & NCR

| Name of City   | Name of      | Month    | Monthly Average     | Monthly Average    | Monthly Average   | Monthly Average   |
|----------------|--------------|----------|---------------------|--------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
|                | Station      |          | PM 2.5 (in µg/m 3 ) | PM 10 (in µg/m 3 ) | SO 2 (in µg/m 3 ) | NO 2 (in µg/m 3 ) |
| Delhi          | Delhi        | Nov 2014 | 176                 | 394                | 10                | 63                |
| Delhi          |              | Nov 2015 | 221                 | 512                | 22                | 64                |
| Delhi          |              | Nov 2016 | 252                 | 536                | 19                | 97                |
| Delhi          |              | Nov 2017 | 275                 | 426                | 28                | 62                |
| Delhi          |              | Nov 2018 | 202                 | 348                | 17                | 60                |
| Faridabad      |              | Nov 2014 | -                   | -                  | 6                 | 30                |
| Faridabad      |              | Nov 2015 | 211                 | -                  | 8                 | 32                |
| Faridabad      | Sec-16A      | Nov 2016 | 245                 | -                  | 27                | 80                |
| Faridabad      | Faridabad    | Nov 2017 | 200                 | -                  | 37                | 58                |
| Faridabad      |              | Nov 2018 | 264                 | -                  | 7                 | 69                |
| Gurugram       |              | Nov 2014 | -                   | 149                | 3                 | 39                |
| Gurugram       |              | Nov 2015 | 84                  | 188                | 5                 | 13                |
| Gurugram       | VikasSadan   | Nov 2016 | 162                 | -                  | 5                 | 11                |
| Gurugram       | Gurugram     | Nov 2017 | 211                 | -                  | 8                 | 23                |
| Gurugram       |              | Nov 2018 | 140                 | -                  | 11                | 53                |
|                | MD           | Nov 2016 | 73                  | -                  | 3                 | 15                |
| Rohtak         | University   | Nov 2017 | 196                 | -                  | 6                 | 15                |
|                | Rohtak       | Nov 2018 | 81                  | -                  | 16                | 23                |
| Alwar          |              | Nov 2017 | 101                 | 236                | 13                | 52                |
| Alwar          | MotiDoongri  | Nov 2018 | 44                  | 106                | 15                | 72                |
| Bhiwadi        | RIICO Ind.   | Nov 2017 | 237                 | 399                | 66                | 82                |
| Bhiwadi        | Area III     | Nov 2018 | 145                 | 373                | 35                | 57                |
| Ghaziabad      |              | Nov 2017 | 369                 | 625                | 68                | 86                |
| Ghaziabad      | Vasundhara   | Nov 2018 | 244                 | 367                | 19                | 91                |
|                | Noida , Sec- | Nov 2017 | 190                 | 306                | -                 | 10                |
| Noida          | 62           | Nov 2018 | 199                 | 393                | -                 | 14                |
| Noida          | Noida , Sec- | Nov 2017 | 303                 | 489                | 38                | 107               |

|               | 125              | Nov 2018   |   235 |   354 |   17 |   89 |
|---------------|------------------|------------|-------|-------|------|------|
| Baghpat       | New Collectorate | Nov 2018   |   221 |   330 |   18 |   45 |
| Bulandshahr   | Yamunapur am     | Nov 2018   |   224 |   326 |   19 |   50 |
| Muzaffarnagar | New mandi        | Nov 2018   |   200 |   309 |   20 |   58 |
| Greator Noida | Greator Noida    | Nov 2018   |   222 |   374 |   15 |   86 |

NOTE: "-"Inadequate data/data not available

## Annexure II

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