LAHORE (Dunya News) – Pakistan for the first time made rain to try improve air quality in Lahore which has consistently ranked among the top three cities with the most polluted air globally in the past many weeks.
“Today Pakistan successfully conducted its first artificial rain experiment,” Punjab’s caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, while confirming the event of inducing rain in some Lahore neighbourhoods.
Around Saturday evening, the air quality index for Lahore was recorded at 354, a level categorised as "hazardous" by Swiss group IQAir.
Naqvi, during a press conference, said that light rain had occurred in approximately ten areas of Lahore, and the second mission would commence shortly.
According to details, two special aircraft arrived from the UAE and carried 48 flares near Shahdara and Muridke in the first flight.
The same technology is used in the United Arab Emirates, notably in the emirate of Dubai, to induce artificial rain a thousand times a year.
Artificial rain or cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that aims to stimulate precipitation, and is performed by introducing different substances, such as salt flares, into clouds that promote the formation of raindrops or snowflakes.
This technique is widely used for rainfall in areas that experience drought or suffer from poor air quality.
Experts say artificial rain does not cause any health-related issues.
Read also: What is artificial rain and how it helps fight smog?
The caretaker CM said the Punjab government did not spend a penny for artificial rain, adding that the entire arrangement was made by the UAE to help the Punjab government combat smog.
He dismissed the reports about the cost of artificial rain, saying that the reports about the Punjab government having spent Rs350 million was completely false.
Naqvi said that smog towers would be installed within a few weeks, and the air quality index would improve with the rain.
Air quality deteriorates every year ahead of winter, when cold air traps pollutants from sources including vehicles, industries, factories, construction dust and agricultural waste burning.
Naqvi mentioned that caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar expressed gratitude to the government of the UAE.