After attacking crops in Madhya Pradesh, a swarm of locusts reached Jhansi district on Wednesday.
According to an Uttar Pradesh official, other districts in the region are also on alert.
Locusts struck the district last week as well, but authorities said they eliminated half of that swarm with the help of local people. The latest swarm was spotted in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh”s Datia district.
Anticipating its arrival, the Jhansi administration had already deployed fire brigade vehicles loaded with pesticide. The locusts reached Skill village in Garautha tehsil around 4.30 pm and efforts were on to drive them away, Jhansi division”s Deputy Director (Agriculture) Kamal Katiyar said.
The swarm is spread over an area of about one square kilometre, he said. Insecticide is being sprayed, he said.
Farmers have been advised to play loud music to deter locusts.”Relatively small swarm of locusts was also spotted in Datawali village under the Samthar police station area,” Katiyar said.
Locusts had earlier attacked some parts of Jhansi district on 22 and 24 May. Taking cognisance of the problem, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed district magistrates of districts bordering other States to take appropriate measures to deal with the menace.
Instructions were issued to DMs of Jhansi, Lalitpur, Agra, Mathura, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Mahoba, Banda, Chitrakoot, Jalaun, Etawah and Kanpur Dehat. Adityanath and Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi instructed the DMs and officers of the Agriculture Department to take appropriate action, a statement issued here on Wednesday said.
At the State-level to control the menace, teams have been formed, and control room established, which will inform the movement of the locusts to these districts to take protective measures.
At the district-level, a nodal officer has been made, and a task force and control-room already set up. Instructions were also issued to prepare details about the dangers posed by the locusts, ways to protect from them and precautions.
These will be circulated among all departmental officials in all districts through social media and made available to farmers and the public. An advisory has been issued to beat drums, tin containers and metal plates to create noise and shoo away locusts in case of an attack.
Agriculture Department officials have been told co-ordinate with members of the locust warning team, local residents and farmers. Instructions have already been issued to take assistance of agriculture universities and pest management centres.
Two fire brigade vehicles with insecticide were deployed in all four Jhansi tehsils. In addition, six vehicles were kept ready at the district headquarters. Ten municipal employees with two insecticide spraying machines have been posted in every block, Katiyar said.
Locusts don’t target animals or humans but can devastate crop fields. Swarms of locusts from Pakistan entered Rajasthan last month, affecting several districts and then spreading to other States. Desert locusts — the crop destroying insects — have not impacted rabi crops in India but the government efforts are on to eliminate the insects before monsoon in order to save kharif crops. Timely action is the need of the hour.