Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: ARIF ALI / AFP 17:06 p.m., December 16, 2023

In an effort to combat smog, which is very harmful to the health of the population in the megacity of Lahore, artificial rain was used for the first time on Saturday in Pakistan. Planes, supplied by the United Arab Emirates and equipped with cloud seeding technology, flew over ten areas of the city.

Artificial rain was used for the first time in Pakistan on Saturday to combat the smog that is very harmful to the health of people in the megacity of Lahore, the provincial government of Punjab announced. Planes, supplied by the United Arab Emirates and equipped with cloud seeding technology, flew over ten areas of the city, considered one of the most polluted in the world.

A "gift" from the United Arab Emirates

It was a "donation" made by the United Arab Emirates, said the acting head of government of Punjab province Mohsin Naqvi. "Teams from the United Arab Emirates arrived here with two planes ten to twelve days ago. They used 48 rockets to bring about rain," he told reporters. The team will know by Saturday evening whether the "artificial rain" process has been successful, the official added.

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The United Arab Emirates is increasingly using cloud seeding to create artificial rain in the drought-stricken country's arid regions. The process consists of introducing salt or a mixture of different salts into the clouds to obtain precipitation, the crystals promoting condensation that triggers rain. This technique has been implemented in dozens of countries, including the United States, China and India. Even a tiny amount of rain is effective in reducing pollution, experts say.

The threshold exceeded more than 66 times

Air pollution has worsened in recent years in Pakistan, with low-end diesel fumes, fumes from seasonal agricultural burns and winter temperatures contributing to the smog that suffocates the lungs of Lahore's 11 million residents. Levels of PM2.5 pollutants, cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs, exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold in Lahore on Saturday more than 66 times.

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The consequences of prolonged exposure to smog, a mixture of fog and pollutant emissions, are catastrophic: heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory diseases, strokes, according to the WHO. Successive governments have tried different approaches, including spraying roads with water or closing schools, factories and markets on weekends, with varying degrees of success.