3 years ago
New Delhi’s satellite city, Gurugram, was invaded by Desert locusts on Saturday. The authorities have asked people to close their windows and make noise by banging their utensils to scare away the fast-spreading swarms.
Pilot’s have been warned to be extra careful during takeoff and landing at Delhi’s international airport, which borders Gurugram.
It is the first time Gurugram is facing a locust attack. Previous infestations have been mainly confined to some villages in the western state of Gujarat and Rajasthan in the north, which share a border with Pakistan’s desert areas.
India, which is battling its worst desert locust outbreak in decades, is using specialist vehicles and fire engines to spray insecticides in at least seven populous states in the north, centre and west of the country.
It has also bought a helicopter-mounted spray system to control the swarms in some key farm belts, as summer crop-sowing gathered pace with the arrival of the monsoon rains this month.
The locust infestation has not caused significant damage so far due to the lean season - the gap between the previous harvest and the next planting season - but farmers are worried about their summer crops.
