India has turned to a radical solution as it battles a dangerous smog problem in Delhi, which is the world’s most polluted capital city.

With Delhi labouring under a blanket of heavy smog for almost 10 days, the massive city has already shut all schools, stopped construction activities and said it will impose restrictions on vehicle use.

Now the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur is offering what it hopes is an ingenious solution: Cloud seeding, colloquially known as artificial rain.

The local environment minister said authorities would try to induce rain from about November 20, depending on legal approval and weather conditions.

Delhi’s air quality deteriorates every year ahead of winter, when cold air traps pollutants from sources such as vehicles, industries, construction dust and agricultural waste burning.

Early in Wednesday, the city’s air quality index was above 320, a level categorised as “hazardous” by Swiss group IQAir. It fell to 294 later in the day.

Also on Wednesday, the local government issued a notice to close all government and private schools from Thursday until November 18, bringing forward a winter break that was originally scheduled for January.

As air quality has worsened in the past week, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered states surrounding the city – which is home to 33 million people – to stop farmers burning crop residue.

Despite that, the outlook for the city’s air quality remained unfavourable.

“There is a possibility that, if current weather conditions persist, then this week or till some time in the future the pollution situation will remain the same,” Environment Minister Gopal Rai said.

Rai said a proposal drafted by experts for making rain would be presented to India’s Supreme Court on Friday.

“I believe that given the conditions we have and if we get support from everyone, we can do the first pilot at least,” Rai said.

China, Indonesia and Malaysia have previously induced rain but this would be a first for India.

Delhi’s environmental department said it planned to seed clouds, a technique that uses substances such as silver iodine to induce precipitation.

Artificial rain can provide relief from poor air quality, although it is not considered a long-term solution.

IIT Kanpur has worked for five years to create good conditions for the cloud seeding. It conducted successful trials in July.

“At our end, we are ready to conduct this in Delhi, but for cloud seeding to create artificial rains, we also need necessary meteorological conditions like clouds with necessary moisture, winds,” said Manindra Agrawal, a professor in IIT Kanpur’s computer science and engineering department.

The checklist also includes multiple approvals from authorities, including India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Special Protection Group, which guards the Indian PM.

-with AAP