The Congress party on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Delhi government’s Rs 34-crore cloud seeding initiative, branding it a “cruel joke” that offered only fleeting, localized improvement in the capital’s hazardous air quality. Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh accused the BJP administration of squandering public funds on a project explicitly opposed by multiple scientific bodies.

Ramesh cited a December 2024 Rajya Sabha response from the Union Minister of State for Environment, which revealed that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and India Meteorological Department (IMD) had all advised against winter cloud seeding. An October 31, 2025, IIT Delhi report further concluded that the technique would have “little to no impact” on Delhi’s toxic winter smog, reinforcing the scientific consensus.

The opposition’s salvo followed Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s claim just two days earlier that “science-driven action and enforcement” were yielding tangible air quality gains, while dismissing accusations of data tampering. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta echoed the defense, insisting pollution metrics were tamper-proof. Ramesh countered that any marginal gains—limited to a day or two in isolated pockets—were dramatically outweighed by the project’s cost and inefficacy.

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Congress leaders accused the government of prioritizing headline-grabbing theatrics over evidence-based solutions, especially as Delhi continues to grapple with severe AQI spikes. The party demanded accountability for the expenditure and urged focus on proven measures like stubble-burning mitigation, vehicular emission controls, and industrial regulation.

As the winter smog crisis deepens, the controversy has intensified political fault-lines, with opposition parties vowing to expose further instances of alleged data manipulation and fiscal irresponsibility in the capital’s anti-pollution campaign.

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