Swarms of crop-destroying locusts enter Gurugram, cause no major damage

The skies over many parts of Gurugram turned dark on Saturday (June 27) as swarms of locusts descended on the town, but the migratory pests are likely to spare the national capital for now, officials said.

The dark cloud of locusts, spread across two kilometres, crossed the suburban city, touched the Delhi-Gurugram border but did not enter Delhi.

“The swarms moved from west to east. They entered Gurugram around 11.30 am,” K L Gurjar of the Locust Warning Organisation, Ministry of Agriculture said.

The pests, he said, were headed towards Palwal in Haryana.

Alarmed at the invasion of the locusts, which settled on trees, rooftops and plants, many residents of Gurugram shared videos from their high-rise perches.

#HappeningNow Outside our balcony in Gurgaon phase 2. #locustattack pic.twitter.com/ipPp358mat

— Kamala Sripada (@kamalasripada) June 27, 2020

Swarms of locusts were seen in condominiums such as Beverly Park, Garden Estate and Heritage City as well as buildings in Sikanderpur in the high-rise town bordering Delhi.

Officials had asked residents to make clanging noises by beating utensils to ward off the insects.

The Gurugram administration had also said farmers must keep their pumps (for insecticide spray) ready so that they can be used when needed.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said they have called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation following the locust attack in Gurugram.

Meanwhile, small swarms of locusts from the jungles of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh also attacked villages of Banda and Chitrakoot districts in Uttar Pradesh, following which villagers beat drums to chase them away, officials said on Friday.

According to SDM, Atarra in Banda, Jaiprakash Yadav, there has been minor damage to crops at some places. He said locusts on Thursday invaded Turra, Bhusani, Udaipur, Banai, Gautampur, Atarra rural, Naktapurva, Mudwara, Chandaur and Pohar villages but farmers chased them away.

Agriculture officers and their teams are regularly monitoring the villages, he said.

Related news: Telangana on high alert over possible locust attack, CM warns officials

District agriculture officer, Banda, Pramod Kumar said that the swarm of locusts attacked some villages but there was no major damage anywhere. The swam later flew back to the forests of Madhya Pradesh.

The district agriculture officer of Chitrkoot, Dharmendra Awasthi, said that swarms of locusts reached Aujhar, Sariya, Chibau, Naandi and other villages but the farmers were vigilant.

In May, India battled a devastating desert locust outbreak. The crop-destroying swarms first attacked Rajasthan and then spread to Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.

The Centre has reportedly set up 11 control rooms to tackle the issue.

Locusts are said to have massive appetites and can cause immense damage to crops in a matter of few days if left unattended.

(With inputs from agencies)