Daily Times

LAHORE: Authorities are planning to generate artificial rain in Lahore to combat the hazardous situation which compelled the people to sit in their homes.

A week ago, this idea was proposed in a meeting presided by the Commissioner Lahore Division, Asif Bilal Lodhi after which the commissioner had briefed media that the government has shared the matter with Malaysia, China, and the United Arab Emirates to purchase the technology of cloud seeding.

Today (Friday), the Commissioner Lahore Division, has forward the summary to the provincial government where the total cost has been shown Rs 350 million.

The method of artificial raining has been used in more than 50 countries including China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India. China is known for making its maximum use in dry weather.

This year Malaysia has used artificial raining to disperse the smog wafting which was coming from the forest fires in Indonesia.
The metropolitan city has more than 11 million population. Notably, Lahore has been nominated as the second most polluted city in the world, as per independent online air quality index monitor AirVisual.

Although, the Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar has set up a special ‘Smog Control Monitoring Committee’ comprising provincial ministers to find solutions but has been succeeding to tackle the issue. But, for one month the locals are complaining of the burning of throats and eyes.

In India (New Dehli) the situation is even worse, that people are selling 15-minute clean oxygen at bars. And the demands of it are increasing amongst the affluent locals of New Dehli.

Before Lahore’s situation, the government mulled to acquire cloud seeding technology in the near future to deal with the drought-like situation in Balochistan and parts of Sindh. The chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lieutenant General Omar Mahmood Hayat once said talking with a local news outlet.