Locust swarms enter Gurgaon, Delhi, UP districts

Swarms of crop-destroying locusts entered Gurgaon in Haryana, border areas of the national capital and another half a dozen districts in Uttar Pradesh, prompting state authorities to sound an alert, while the Centre said it has deputed more teams to assist in control operations. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Delhi told pilots to remain alert as a locust swarm came near the airport area, officials said.

The locusts have been coming in waves into Rajasthan from Pakistan over the last one and a half months and devouring crops along their path as they cross from one state to another, though Delhi had not been affected till now.

   

The skies over many parts of Gurgaon turned dark at around noon as a swarm spread over several kilometres descended on the city from Rewari district where it had settled at night.

An advisory was issued by the district administration to all the residents on Friday asking them to keep their doors and windows closed as a precautionary measure. Yet, the invasion of the locusts, which settled on trees, rooftops and plants, left the people anxious and many shared videos taken from their high-rise perches.

Swarms were also spotted in Dwarka and AsolaBhatti area in South Delhi. Delhi Environment Minister GopalRai called an emergency meeting to discuss steps to check any possible locust attack after they entered Gurgaon.

The city government put all the districts on high alert and asked the district magistrates to coordinate with the fire department for spraying of pesticides and insecticides to prevent a possible attack of locusts. The aviation regulator DGCA had on May 29 issued strict guidelines for stakeholders like pilots and engineers on how to deal with locust swarms, saying they pose a threat to aircraft in the critical landing and takeoff phase of a flight

Officials said as there was a change in wind direction, the locusts moved away from the region towards Uttar Pradesh and damage to crops was not reported from anywhere in Gurgaon.

A major swarm had come from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, and nearly one-third of its was destroyed in Rewari in Haryana on Friday evening through insecticide spray, after which three swarms were formed which have now entered Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

One of the swarms moved towards Gurgaon, and from there to Faridabad and onwards to Uttar Pradesh. Another locust swarm moved towards Dwarka in Delhi, from there to Daulatabad, Gurgaon, Faridabad and this swarm has also entered Uttar Pradesh. The third group was seen in Palwal (Haryana) and has also moved towards Uttar Pradesh.

The locusts keep flying during day time and settle down only after dark in the evening. “It was a huge swarm of five kilometre in length and two kilometre in width which passed through Mahendragarh and settled down in Rewari.

In Uttar Pradesh, locust swarms have invaded several districts in the past 48 hours and attacked trees and crops.

The UP Agriculture Department said reports of locust attacks were received from Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Bhadohi, Azamgarh and Ambedkar Nagar on Friday. It said authorities of the neighbouring districts – Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Mirzapur, Sultanpur, Mau and Ballia – have been asked to remain alert.

Union Agriculture Ministry said that ground control operations were on in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

All the groups of locust swarms are being tracked by teams of the State Agriculture Departments of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, local administrations and officials of the Central Locust Warning Organisation, and control operations are underway, the ministry added.

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