In order to deal with locust attack in the state, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Friday directed the officers concerned to make adequate arrangements for chemicals and pesticides to deal to save crops from the locust swarms.
He also directed the officers to purchase drones and other necessary equipment to tackle this at the earliest.
The Chief Minister, while presiding over a review meeting regarding monitoring and control of locust in Haryana said that the locust swarms should be constantly monitored till their presence in the state is eliminated completely. Administration along with the Agriculture Department should keep 24X7 vigil on the swarms and should further ensure availability of adequate stock of all the resources required to deal with the insect attack, he said.
During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Sanjeev Kaushal, apprised the Chief Minister that since the invasion of locust swarm attack, special supervision teams have been constituted to tackle the situation and to spread awareness about the same across the state.
He shared that in view of warning regarding potential intense attacks in several districts after July 22, ‘standing teams’ of four departments namely Panchayat, Police, Revenue and Agriculture have been made at district, sub-divisional, block and village level. Besides this, a special task force has also been constituted in every district along with setting up an independent stand alone system to monitor all the arrangements to control locust swarms and prevent losses due to crop damage, he informed.
Kaushal said that special training is being imparted to these teams to remain vigilant about locusts. Arrangements are being made to stock 20,000 litres of Lamda Cyhalothrin in addition to existing stocks of pesticide. Drones are also being purchased for aerial spray of pesticide, he said.
Kaushal further said that along with activation of tractor mounted spraying facility, the Deputy Commissioners have been asked to coordinate and hold daily meetings with the response teams, for quick mobilization, he added. Various WhatsApp groups have been formed for timely sharing of the information, he added.
Notably, the Locust Warning Organisation has warned of more high-intensity attacks in the districts Nuh, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri after July 22, after large-scale locust breeding was observed in district Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.