CHANDIGARH: Farmers in Punjab are a worried lot. The presence of locusts in Muktsar, Fazilka, Bathinda and Mansa districts, besides Sirsa in Haryana, has raised the fear of crop damage. However, no loss of crop has been reported from all these districts that are bordering Rajasthan.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday urged PM Narendra Modi to direct the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to immediately take up the issue with the Pakistan Government from where the pests were emanating.
Amarinder wrote to Modi that there has been a sustained attack of locust swarms on crops in Rajasthan recently. A significant number of these pests have also entered into the neighbouring areas of southern Punjab. “Although Rajasthan has been taking the required action to control this locust attack, the best method of control is to manage the breeding ground itself, which incidentally falls in adjoining desert area of Pakistan,” he stated.
Amarinder emphasised the need to take up the issue with the Pakistan Government and press them to take effective steps to sanitise the breeding areas of these locusts.