Locust menace closing in on Telangana

Hyderabad: Centre has pitched in to help states battling an attack by the desert locusts. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Wednesday informed that locust control operations have been stepped up in affected states to combat the menace.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday constituted a five-member experts committee to follow the movement of locust swarms that have been ravaging several parts of the country, and to prepare an action plan based on their movement to stop them at the borders of Telangana State.

In Maharashtra – which is neighboring state of Telangana – officials reported that the swarm split into two groups after pesticide was sprayed between Monday night and Tuesday morning. One group is moving towards Parseoni in Nagpur while the other entered Bhandara, said officials.

Distance between Maharashtra and Telangana is 480 kms and the reports say that the locusts are covering 100 kms in a single day.

“The swarm travelled over 100 km on Wednesday from Andhalgaon, Mohadi taluka back into Ramtek tehsil in Nagpur, and again into Tumsar Bhandara. They have settled at orchards surrounding Temani,” said Ravindra Bhosale, divisional joint director agriculture.

A 1-kilometer swarm consists of up to 80 million locusts, and at least 10 such swarms were chewing through crops in India as of Wednesday, according to the LWO. 

Several Indian media outlets reported that about 123,500 acres of cropland had already been destroyed in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states.

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