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 the State. The 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, the Agriculture Department said that along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab, locust attacks were seen in Jhansi, Lalitpur, Sonbhadra, Jalaun districts of the State. Keeping this in mind the 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 the statement, the 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 the 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 the statement

"A total of 86 vehicles of the 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," the statement added.

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

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Locust control measures that started since April 11 are underway in affected states in northern India. In its May 27 letter written to all states, the Union Home Ministry has given "necessary instructions to streamline the inter-state movement facility for the personnel engaged in locust control works," the statement said. Under both State and National Disaster Response Fund, the Centre has included the hiring of vehicles, machines and chemicals used in the 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, known as 'Tiddi Dal' in north India, is a type of grasshoppers that usually move in large numbers and devastate crops.  Notably, the first locust attack of this year was reported from Ganganagar, a district in north Rajasthan bordering Pakistan on May 11.

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(With agency inputs)