The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is mulling inducing artificial rain in Delhi after Diwali to wash away hazardous pollutants that is plaguing the national capital. A senior CPCB official said they are in talks with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for inducing artificial rain after Diwali when the pollution is expected to reach "severe-plus emergency" stage.

The official said they are waiting for meteorological conditions to become stable and then use cloud seeding for inducing artificial rain. Cloud seeding is the process of combining different kinds of chemical agents including silver iodide, dry ice and even common table salt with existing clouds in an effort to thicken the clouds and increase the chance of rain or snowfall. An IIT Kanpur professor said weather conditions are being monitored to become favourable for creating artificial rain.