The AAP has levelled serious allegations of fraud and wastage of public funds against the BJP-led Delhi government concerning its recently attempted artificial rain project.
AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed the government ignored its own scientific advisors to conduct a “circus” that was destined to fail.
The controversy centers on cloud seeding attempts conducted on October 28, which the AAP says yielded no rain. Bharadwaj presented a parliamentary record from December 2024, in which the BJP-led central government, citing expert opinions from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), stated that cloud seeding in Delhi during winter was “neither feasible nor practical.”
“Experts had warned that winter clouds wouldn’t produce rain that could reach the ground and that the chemicals used could even cause illnesses,” Bharadwaj stated during a press conference. “When three scientific bodies of the BJP-ruled central government have already said that cloud seeding in Delhi is not possible, on what basis did the government spend crores of rupees on this circus?”
The AAP leader questioned the timing of the attempt, noting the government had initially announced the project for a day after Diwali, then for October 29, but hastily moved it to October 28 upon seeing clouds during the Chhath festival. He claimed no rain resulted from the exercise.
Bharadwaj demanded accountability, asking who in the Delhi government approved the expenditure of approximately 3.5 crore rupees on a project that central agencies had previously advised against. He also raised concerns about the selection of densely populated areas like Karol Bagh and Mayur Vihar for the experiment, given the cited potential health concerns related to the chemicals used.
“CM Rekha Gupta must answer why taxpayers’ money was wasted despite clear scientific advice,” he asserted.
The AAP has posed a series of written questions to the government, including whether the CAQM, CPCB, and IMD had changed their scientific stance within the last year, and on whose directive IIT Kanpur proceeded with the seeding on a day deemed scientifically unsuitable.