Telangana sees relief from Locust Attack again

Telangana seems to have dodged yet another round of locust attack, even as the swarms made their way to nation’s capital on Saturday. Telangana has been declared safe with the authorities predicting a further northern movement of the voracious insects.

The State government is leaving nothing to chance and has released funds for nine bordering districts to keep insecticides and PPE kits ready to face any eventuality in case the swarms take a U-turn.

 

As predicted, the crop-destroying desert locust swarms reappeared in the country and reached Gurugram close to New Delhi. Telangana government which has been carefully watching the developments is predicting movement of swarms further north either towards Delhi or Punjab. The five-member committee established by the State government to monitor the movement of the locusts earlier predicted that the swarms might return between June 25 and July 6.

“According to the predictions available from different sources, including the Jodhpur-based Locust Warning Organization, the possible path way excludes southern India, particularly its gateway Telangana,” B



Janardhan Reddy, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, told Telangana Today on Saturday. He said that the movement seems to be originating from Pakistan, then to Indian States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, then either towards Punjab or Maharashtra.

As per the probable path way, the locusts were to travel through Nagpur, Bhandara and Gondiya in Maharashtra. In that case, there would have been a possibility of locusts moving towards Telangana. However the present movement of the swarm seems to be towards north sparing the southern part of the country.

“The north is predominantly prone to locust attacks. There are two to three types of swarm groups that attack the northern region. However Telangana would have been prone to attack if any one of the upper States like Maharashtra or Madhya Pradesh fail to contain them with stringent measures,” Janardhan Reddy said.

The government says that the swarm strength always gets diminished while it travels from State to State. “The initial strength of the swarms decreases as they move towards the hinterland as they go through insecticide applications and other control measures,” Janardhan Reddy said.