The government will deploy artificial rains ahead of the dry season’s peak next year as the nation attempts to combat the seasonal repeat of winter smog that blankets Pakistan every year, Minister of State for Climate Malik Amin Aslam said.
Speaking to a news channel, Aslam said the ministry was contemplating the use of cloud seeding technologies in response to severe air pollution in Punjab, particularly Lahore.
It’s not clear when exactly the government will seed the clouds to produce the rain, but the officials are rushing the closure of traditional brick kilns of Punjab in the meantime.
In the regional neighbourhood, China has frequently made use of cloud seeding technology to relieve droughts or clear the air ahead of major international events.
It has also been building a weather modification system in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, Asia’s biggest freshwater reserve, with the aim of pumping large quantities of silver iodide into the clouds in a bid to increase rainfall.
If Pakistan follows the China model to be able to modify the weather, it will have to extend an artificial rain “two to three times in the next year”, Aslam said.
“We are currently studying the phenomenon,” he said, acknowledging the use of weather modification technology was crucial to deal with the health hazard.
Lahore, the bustling metropolis of nearly 11 million people, regularly ranks among the worst cities in the world for air pollution — a mixture of low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal crop burn off, and colder winter temperatures coalescing into stagnant clouds.
Over the past weeks, in what has become a dreaded seasonal occurrence, Lahore has suffered pollution levels many times higher than the levels deemed healthy by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and a thick brown smog settled over the city.
Aslam said that 40 percent of the smog was caused due to smoke emitting from vehicles “which is why the government is shifting fuel from Euro 2 to Euro 5 fuels.
“We are also taking action against smoke-emitting vehicles,” he said. The use of electric vehicles would also help in lessening the pollution, he added.
The minister said the government was taking measures to deal with the toxic air and would hold talks for similar effective measures in neighbouring India to avoid any fallout.
“All countries in the region [would] have to sit together to deal with the challenge of climate change,” he said.
The Punjab government has also imposed hefty fines against violators contributing to the pollution. The decision was taken during a meeting of the steering committee on smog.
The meeting decided to impose a fine of Rs2,000 on motorcycles and four-wheelers and impose a penalty of Rs50,000 on those involved in burning harvest or own smoke-emitting brick kilns.
