Residents told to leave city over pollution crisis Samaan LateefOctober 31, 2025 at 7:22 PM 0 The Delhi government carried out a series of cloud seeding trials last week to clear its toxic smog RAJAT GUPTA/EPA/Shutterstock Doctors in Delhi have told residents to leave the city because of toxic smog. Hospitals in India's capital have reported a surge in patients presenting with respiratory illnesses with one leading doctor telling The Telegraph that people who can afford to should leave.
- - Residents told to leave city over pollution crisis
Samaan LateefOctober 31, 2025 at 7:22 PM
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The Delhi government carried out a series of cloud seeding trials last week to clear its toxic smog - RAJAT GUPTA/EPA/Shutterstock
Doctors in Delhi have told residents to leave the city because of toxic smog.
Hospitals in India's capital have reported a surge in patients presenting with respiratory illnesses with one leading doctor telling The Telegraph that people who can afford to should leave.
"Air pollution can trigger severe pneumonia and other lung infections," said pulmonologist Dr Gopi Chand Khilnani. "If you can afford it, get away from Delhi for six to eight weeks."
Delhi's attempt to trigger artificial rain to clear its toxic smog has failed.
Hospitals in Delhi have reported a surge in patients with respiratory illnesses - Adnan Abidi
Residents of Delhi voiced their frustration after the experiment, known as cloud seeding, failed to create artificial rain.
"Not a single drop fell," Khusboo Singh, a sales executive who lives in south Delhi, told The Telegraph. "The government needs to be held accountable," she said, describing the experiment as a waste of public money.
Cloud seeding, which involves dispersing fine particles of silver iodide or salt into clouds to trigger rainfall, is expensive. A month-long operation can cost upwards of INR 30 crore rupees (£3 million), and some environmental experts argue that stricter traffic controls and investment in public transport offer a better long-term solution.
Ms Singh said the pollution, meanwhile, had become unbearable, and that the air purifier in her home was showing a reading of 500 on the air quality index, far above safe levels.
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An AQI value of 50 or below represents good air quality, while an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality. An AQI between 51 and 100 is "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".
"The air feels heavy, like you're breathing through smoke," she said. "It's hazy all day, my eyes sting, and my throat burns," Mr Singh said.
"You can't escape it. You just sit inside and hope you don't get sick."
The Delhi government, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, carried out a series of cloud seeding trials last week in a desperate bid to wash away the dense smog shrouding the capital and surrounding area.
Officials hoped the rain would suppress airborne pollutants. But scientists said there simply wasn't enough moisture in the air for the chemicals to work. After three failed attempts, including two on Tuesday that produced only traces of drizzle outside Delhi, the project was abandoned.
New Delhi recorded an air quality index reading of 373, its worst October reading in three years - RAJAT GUPTA/EPA/Shutterstock
As Delhi remained shrouded in a grey haze on Friday, the city recorded an air quality index reading of 373, its worst October reading in three years.
Gufran Beig, founder of India's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, said he was not surprised that the experiment had come up short.
"It was bound to fail," he told The Telegraph.
"There were simply no seedable clouds over Delhi at this time of year. The moisture content was below 15 per cent; you need at least 50 per cent for cloud seeding to have any realistic chance of success."
"The whole exercise was based on razor-thin probabilities," he said.
Delhi's attempt to trigger artificial rain with an anti-smog gun failed - RAJAT GUPTA/EPA/Shutterstock
What's more, under the wrong conditions, cloud seeding can even make things worse, he said.
"If you get only drizzle instead of proper rain, the effect can be counter-productive," he said. "The fine droplets can trap more moisture and provide surfaces for particles like PM 2.5 to cling to."
Dr Mohan George, an air pollution expert at New Delhi's Centre for Science and Environment, said the answer to solving Delhi's pollution was "staring us in the face."
The focus, he said, should be on cleaner fuels and more public transport.
"We're talking about 8.5 million registered vehicles, at least 1.5 to 2 million of them on the road at any given time," he said. "That's on top of construction dust, industrial emissions, and crop fires, all feeding the haze continuously. You can't wash that away with a few minutes of artificial rain."
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Published: October 31, 2025 at 11:54PM on Source: GL MAG
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