LAHORE  -  Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s persistent ef­forts yielded success as, for the first time in the country’s histo­ry, artificial rain was successful­ly tested in Lahore. 

Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi while addressing press con­ference at the Chief Minister’s Office here on Saturday an­nounced the historic achieve­ment, stating that after 15 days of continuous efforts, the first artificial rain has taken place in Pakistan.

In the initial mission, 48 flares were deployed for cloud seed­ing in the morning, followed by a second artificial rainfall mis­sion. The precipitation occurred around Shahdara and Muridke areas, benefiting from the nec­essary cloud cover and wind. CM Mohsin Naqvi expressed gratitude that the artificial rain had incurred no financial cost.

Acknowledging the coopera­tion of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi thanked the UAE team, which had been in Pakistan for the past 15 days to facilitate ar­tificial rain. He highlighted that Lahore, once ranked as the most polluted city globally by Airin­dex, faced significant challeng­es in experimenting with artifi­cial rain, and he appreciated the support of the UAE President.

CM Naqvi extended gratitude to the federal government and institutions for their unwav­ering support. Both WASA and LWMC are on high alert, await­ing the results of the second ar­tificial rainfall mission, which will be evident by the next night.

The artificial rain experiment was a joint effort between the Department of Environment and the UAE team. Chief Min­ister Mohsin Naqvi disclosed that the federal government was actively working on artifi­cial rain technology, expressing optimism about more success­es in the near future.

Artificial rainfall is a regular practice in the UAE, and the suc­cessful implementation on a 15 km stretch in Lahore was a gift from the UAE. The Punjab gov­ernment provided complete technical support, and Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi con­veyed thanks on behalf of the Punjab government to the UAE.

Emphasising the importance of artificial rain experiments for future smog control, the CM also announced plans to install tow­ers for smog control soon. He highlighted that comprehensive long-term and short-term poli­cies were being pursued to ad­dress smog-related challenges.

The CM expressed hope that the artificial rain would contrib­ute to improving the air quality index, and the expertise gained would be shared with oth­er provinces. Responding to a question, Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi emphasized the impor­tance of saving lives over mon­etary concerns and clarified that the Punjab government did not spend anything except for sprinkling water in the endeav­or.

Regarding the concerns about health effects, he stat­ed that if artificial rain were harmful, no country would practice it. Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi stressed the need for comprehensive re­search on smog prevention and expressed confidence that the next government would make informed decisions based on good research.

Introducing an electric bike and vehicle policy, Naqvi shared his personal opinion that the sale of fuel vehicles should be phased out in favour of electric vehicles. Provincial Minister Amir Mir, Commis­sioner, CCPO, DGPR, and other officials were present during the press conference.