NEW DELHI: The national capital on Saturday had a narrow escape from a major locust attack after swarms were seen flying across Delhi’s bordering areas in Gurugram and Haryana. According to experts, the locusts without causing any major damage have moved towards Bulandshahr district in UP in the evening via Jewar near Noida.
Dr KL Gurjar, deputy director, Directorate of Vegetation Conservation, Quarantine and Collection, said that the locusts had reached Haryana for the first time on Friday night and that an outbreak had been reported in areas close to Delhi.
He pointed out that the locust swarms are moving towards Palwal in Haryana and could move towards Delhi since they travel in the direction of the wind. Locust swarms were seen in Gurugram and Rewari in Haryana along with sightings at Faridabad.
"The advice for farmers is that they keep creating noise so that locusts do not sit on their crops. They usually travel in daytime and rest on trees at night. The immature adults, mostly pink in colour, travel in groups. They can be managed by using chemicals and sprays but only at night. Damage is done to trees because they chew leaves and barks," Dr Gurjar noted.
He further added that locusts on an average travel around 150 km in a day and that no major harm was done to vegetables in Gurugram or Faridabad region because of no standing crops at this season. Earlier, the locust swarms threatened to damage crops in many states amid the coronavirus crisis.