UP's Agriculture department cautions 15 districts against possible threat of locust attack

Uttar Pradesh Government's Agriculture Department on Sunday asked 15 districts to remain vigilant following locust attack in four districts of State. department has also initiated actions to combat locust attacks by deploying vehicles spraying insecticides, sound-producing instruments, farming chemicals etc.

'State & district level disaster relief teams constituted'

In a press statement, Agriculture Department said that along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab, locust attacks were seen in Jhansi, Lalitpur, Sonbhadra, Jalaun districts of State. Keeping this in mind department has advised Agra, Mathura, Saharanpur, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Mahoba, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur and Mirzapur districts along with Jhansi, Lalitpur, Sonbhadra, Jalaun districts to remain vigilant.

In statement, department said that actions to combat locust attacks have been initiated. "A State and district level disaster relief teams have been constituted to combat locusts. In various districts of State, 486 vehicles, 5365 tractors mounted sprays, 2,172 Nagar Nigam tanker/tractor, 2423 Nagar Nigam sprayers, 29744 sugar mills/sugarcane department sprayers, 54967 sound-producing instruments including DJ, have been arranged," read statement

"A total of 86 vehicles of fire department,1288 tractor mounted sprayers, 312 Nagar Niga, tractor/tanker, 204 Nagar Nigam Sprays, 18, 261 sound-producing instruments and 31, 41,10-litre farming chemicals have been arranged in Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Mahoba, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Agra, Mathura, Saharanpur, Shamli, Muzaffarpur and Baghpat districts," statement added.

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Centre on Friday asked states to streamline inter-state movement of personnel engd in controlling spread of crop-damaging migratory pests. All States and Union Territories have also been issued an advisory along with standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling locust problem, Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

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Locust control measures that started since April 11 are underway in affected states in rrn India. In its May 27 letter written to all states, Union Home Ministry has given "necessary instructions to streamline inter-state movement facility for personnel engd in locust control works," statement said. Under both State and National Disaster Response Fund, Centre has included hiring of vehicles, machines and chemicals used in containment of locust control.

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So far, locust control operations have been done in 377 spots covering 53,997 hectares in six states. Locust, kwn as 'Tiddi Dal' in rth India, is a type of grasshoppers that usually move in large numbers and devastate crops.  tably, first locust attack of this year was reported from Ganganagar, a district in rth Rajasthan bordering Pakistan on May 11.

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(With ncy inputs)