City enjoys maiden artificial rain

UAE helps test meteorological technology in Shahdara

LAHORE:

In an historic leap in efforts to curb smog and improve the air quality, Lahore bore witness to its inaugural venture into the realm of artificial precipitation on Saturday.

Delicately orchestrated with the collaboration of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the unprecedented undertaking yielded a subtle yet momentous rainfall across 10 sectors of Lahore, signifying a triumph in meteorological innovation, Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said while speaking to the media.

Applauding the success of Lahore’s maiden artificial rain experiment, he reiterated the planning invested in the initiative. He extended gratitude to the Punjab Environment Department and the entire UAE team for their exhaustive scrutiny of the process, culminating in the eagerly awaited results.

Offering insight into the procedure, he disclosed the deployment of 48 flares for cloud seeding, with a specific focus on the Shahdara area.

He emphasised that no amount from Punjab’s exchequer had been spent on the pioneering achievement, crediting the success to the support of the UAE government in materialising the artificial rain project.

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The geographical precision of the rain, strategically confined within a radius of 10 to 15 kilometres in Lahore, attests to the accuracy and efficacy of the experiment. Naqvi proclaimed that the outcomes had propelled Lahore from its prior standing to the foremost position in terms of recorded rainfall. The monitoring for the experiment had commenced at 9am.

Artificial rain, commonly recognised as cloud seeding, constitutes a meteorological manipulation method crafted to induce precipitation. The procedure entails the introduction of distinct substances into clouds, thereby fostering the augmentation of raindrop formation.

The United Arab Emirates stands as a vanguard in the Arabian Gulf region in employing cloud seeding as a strategic initiative to effectively tackle the nation’s water challenges. Widely acknowledged as both man-made precipitation and artificial rainmaking, cloud seeding takes centre stage in the ongoing endeavours to augment water resources in the region.

The Emirates has adopted an innovative approach by deploying drones equipped with electric-charge emission instruments and specialised sensors, navigating at low altitudes.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2023.