Lucknow: At least 10 Uttar Pradesh districts were on alert Tuesday after swarms of locusts were spotted in Mahoba and Jhansi districts, moving into the state after attacking crops in neighbouring Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
Locusts entered Rajasthan from Pakistan earlier this month, and then drifted into other parts of western India.
Desert locusts are a regular feature in the country but on a very small scale, a Union Environment Ministry official told PTI.
“This attack is huge. It is a once in a three-decade situation and timed very badly for us as we are already dealing with coronavirus,” Soumitra Dasgupta, Inspector General, Wildlife told PTI.
“Local officials have been put on alert and asked to remain prepared with chemicals in tractor-mounted sprayers, power sprayers and fire brigade,” an Uttar Pradesh government spokesman said.
In Jhansi, locusts have been spotted over the last couple of days and farmers told that they should alert a control room whenever they see a swarm.
In Mahoba district, there are reports of partial damage to vegetables over 25 hectares and a detailed assessment of the loss is being done, the spokesman said.
In Rajasthan, pesticide was sprayed on locust swarms at two places in Dausa district on Monday night.
Some swarms then moved towards Karauli and other nearby areas on Tuesday, Rajasthan Agriculture commissioner Om Prakash said.
He said Jaipur and Dausa have now been cleared of locusts.
The locust activity in Rajasthan’s Karauli triggered an alert in Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun and Auraiya in UP as well as in districts like Hamirpur, Kannauj, Etawah and Kanpur Dehat which adjoin them.
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