New Delhi, November 20: Even after the onset of winter, Delhi continued to grapple with alarming levels of pollution as the air quality in the region continued to oscillate between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories. Amid deteriorating levels of air pollution, Minister of State of Environment, Mahesh Sharma said if the situation worsens, then the option of 'cloud seeding' to induce rainfall artificially can be considered. The Minister further added saying that 'cloud seeding' can be considered as an immediate step to reduce pollution in the Delhi-NCR region.

What is Cloud Seeding?

Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification which changes the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation. This alters the microphysical processes within the cloud. To encourage rainfall, scientists use "cloud seeding," a weather modification process designed to increase precipitation amounts by dispersing chemicals into the clouds. Delhi: AIIMS Launches Research Project on Air Pollution’s Impact on Public Health. 

On Sunday, the air quality in the national capital oscillated between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories due to the increased pollutant-holding capacity of air after rainfall a few days back. The SAFAR, in a report, said Delhi’s air quality is fluctuating between poor and very poor and it is expected to be in the very poor category in the next two days. Delhi Air Pollution Continues to Deteriorate: Air Quality Index at Lodhi Road Under 'Poor' & 'Very Poor' Levels.

In its report, SAFAR said that the wind speed is quite good for the dispersion of pollutants which is keeping pollution in check. It added saying that fire counts from stubble burning declined significantly and hence have negligible impact.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 20, 2018 09:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).