Four main sources contribute to pollution in our cities—transport, construction, coal-based power plants and agriculture. Here is how we can address them
Stubble set on fire in Jodhan village near Ludhiana, November 8; (Photo: Getty Images)
ISSUE DATE: Dec 11, 2023 | UPDATED: Dec 1, 2023 16:32 IST
As a thick, poisonous smog engulfed Delhi this November, like so many Novembers before, the air quality level in the national capital deteriorated to its worst ever in eight years. Doctors, too, began reporting an alarming rise in complaints of respiratory disorders. In desperation, the Delhi administration reached out to experts at IIT Kanpur to conduct an experiment that they had long been contemplating—of artificial rain. Using the technique of ‘cloud seeding’, it involves dispersing silver iodide into the atmosphere, which aids the formation of ice crystals in clouds and triggers precipitation. Its use is mostly in dispelling drought in an area, but Delhi wanted to try it—for the first time—to clean its air of pollutants. Fortunately, Mother Nature intervened and unexpected showers washed away the smog, restoring some of the air quality. But with its Air Quality Index (AQI), a pollution indicator, continuing to hover at ‘hazardous’ levels, Delhi kept the cloud-seeding aircraft on standby.