Overnight operations were carried out by the authorities to clear swarms of locusts in Moth and Garautha areas of Jhansi, and in Sonbhadra district, official said on Thursday.
IMAGE: Swarm of locusts seen abive a field in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh. Photograph: PTI Photo
In Jhansi, a large number of locusts was eliminated with spraying of chemicals all through the night but a smaller number of those who survived has moved towards Pariksha near Jhansi on Thursday morning, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Kamal Katiyar, said.
Their further movement will depend on the direction of the wind, he said.
Senior officials, including those from a central team, were present during the night-long operation and a close vigil is being maintained on further movement of locusts, Katiyar said.
Two fire brigade vehicles loaded with insecticide had been deployed in all four Jhansi tehsils besides six vehicles were kept ready at the district headquarter. Ten municipal employees with two insecticide spraying machines were posted in every block.
Locusts had earlier attacked some parts of Jhansi district on May 22 and 24.
In Sonbhadra, a swarm of locusts reached Bemauri village in Ghorawal tehsil on Wednesday night where a team of the Agriculture Department sprayed chemicals till late night, killing a large number of insects.
District Agriculture Officer Piyush Rai said the swarm reached the village in the evening but as there were no standing crops, no damaged was done by them.
“A team from the Agriculture Department reached there at 11 pm and continued spraying chemicals till 1.30 am, killing the insects in large numbers,” he added.
Taking cognisance of the matter, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Wednesday issued directions to district magistrates of Jhansi, Lalitpur, Agra, Mathura, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Mahoba, Banda, Chitrakoot, Jalaun, Etawah and Kanpur Dehat.
At the state-level, teams have already been formed and control rooms established to track the movement of locusts.
At the district headquarter level, a nodal officer has been appointed, and a task force and control room already set up.
Officials have been instructed to list elaborate details of the danger posed by locusts and precautions that need to be taken.
The details should be shared through social media, and also be made available to farmers and locals.
An advisory was also issued to beat drums, tin containers, metal plates and create noise to shoo the locusts in case of an attack.
Officials of the Agriculture Department have been told to coordinate with members of the locust warning team, locals and farmers.
Meanwhile, with swarms of locusts currently moving in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, the Palghar district administration on Thursday asked the farmers and officials to prepare themselves to tackle any possible attack on crops by these insects.
In an official message, Palghar District Collector Dr Kailas Shinde asked the farmers in the district to remain guarded against the locusts in order to save their standing crops.
“Locust infestation is largely found in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Talasari, Dahanu and Jawhar talukas of Palghar district bordering Gujarat have been alerted about the locust infestation. These insects can pose a threat to crops.
“They infest green leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, twigs, foliage, etc of the plant in its path, causing extensive damage to the crop,” he said.
“Precautionary measures should be taken to prevent damage from locusts. The villagers should monitor and inspect the fields at night in groups. Between 7 pm and 9 pm, millions of these insects can land in the fields to rest,” he said.
In order to tackle the problem, large ditches should be dug and loud music should be played, the collector said.
He also suggested the use of insecticide and neem-based spray on the crops to save them from damage.
Spraying should be done late at night or early in the morning if possible, Shinde said.
According to officials, swarms of locusts on Thursday moved towards Gondia district of Maharashtra after attacking crops in neighbouring Bhandara.
Delhi govt issues advisory in view of possible locust attack
The Delhi government has asked authorities concerned to spray insecticides and pesticides on standing crops, vegetation, gardens and orchards to prevent a probable attack of desert locusts in Delhi.
Agriculture Department Joint Director A P Saini in an advisory issued on Wednesday asked the authorities to organise awareness programmes for public and farmers to prevent the attack of locusts in the national capital.
“As the swarm of locusts flies in daytime, and rests during the night, it should not be allowed to rest at night,” the advisory read.
It asked the authorities to carry out spraying of pesticides chlorpyrifos and malathion.
Also, Delhi’s forest department is considering covering the saplings in its nurseries with polythene to protect them against the desert locust attack.
“It is not possible to cover the trees. We will at least cover the saplings in the nurseries,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Ishwar Singh said.
“Covering plants with polythene can also be counter-productive during this heat. So, we will do this only when we know for sure that the swarm of locusts is headed towards Delhi,” the official said.
Singh said that in a city like Delhi, spraying of chemicals can be detrimental for environment.
“If we spray the vegetation, trees and plants with chemical in anticipation of a locust attack, we should also consider how dangerous it will be for the environment,” he said.
There are 14 lakh saplings in 14 government nurseries across Delhi, Singh said.
India is battling the worst desert locust outbreak in recent times.
The crop-destroying swarms first attacked Rajasthan and have now spread to Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
According to experts, broadly four species of locusts are found in India desert locust, migratory locust, Bombay locust and tree locust.
The desert locust is considered the most destructive.
It multiplies very rapidly and is capable of covering 150 kilometers in a day.
This insect, a type of a grasshopper, can eat more than its body weight.
A one square kilometre of locust swarm containing around 40 million locusts can in a day eat as much food as 35,000 people.
Experts blame the growing menace of desert locusts on climate change.
They say breeding of locusts is directly related to soil moisture and food availability.