Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, JP Dalal on Sunday said that reports of losses caused by the locust swarms have been sought and special girdawari will be conducted wherever more damage is reported in the state.
Dalal visited the locust-affected area of district Charkhi Dadri and took stock of the damage caused by it. On Saturday night, swarms of locusts had reached Loharu in district Bhiwani and areas of Charkhi Dadri.
During his visit, he directed the officers of the Agriculture Department to get the insecticides sprayed immediately wherever locusts are found.
He also directed to constitute a group consisting of four to five people each from 20-25 villages per district so that the information of the locust swarms can reach the administration on time and they can be eliminated.
The State Government is making all possible efforts to deal with locust swarms and there are reports of about 50 percent locust swarms being eliminated in various districts as per the directions of the State Government, the Minister said.
He also visited the village Sanwar and the surrounding areas to take stock of the spraying done on the locust swarms at night.
He directed the officers of the Agriculture Department to spray insecticide on locusts in the day time as well as there is no shortage of insecticides with the Department.
Monsoons are favourable for locusts, so there is a need to be vigilant, he added.
While appealing to the farmers to be vigilant, he said that the threat of locust swarms looms large over the next few days.
In this situation, the farmers should inform the Administration from time to time about where the swarms rest at night so that the locusts can be eliminated.
The Agriculture Minister was apprised that the locust swarms had reached different areas of the district after further breaking into four to five swarms on Saturday night. Officers of the Administration and Agriculture Department were engaged all night and the insecticide had been sprayed two or three times to kill the locust swarms in the affected areas.
The Administration was already prepared to tackle the locust attack, which helped to control the damage in the district.
Apart from the three fire brigades of the District Administration, two other fire brigades were brought in from the other district so that the insecticides could be sprayed timely as per requirement.
Dalal was also apprised that the district administration has a stock of about 1700 liters of insecticide with them. Wherever the administration is getting the information of the locust team, appropriate action is being taken at the same place.
It was also informed that the farmers of the district have been asked to inform the authorities about the locust swarms so that they can be killed by spraying insecticide there.