A total of 11 teams have been rushed to Gujarat to tackle the situation. Locusts have destroyed crops in several districts.
Gujarat locust infestation: After inflicting widescale damage to crops in Pakistan, a massive infestation of locusts or tropical grasshoppers from the neighbouring country have invades several districts of Gujarat. Crops like potato, wheat, cumin, cotton, wheat, mustard and others have suffered extensive damage as a swarm of locusts invaded Mehsana, Kutch, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan over the last few days.
With the state authorities finding it difficult to contain the menace, the Centre has decided to sent teams to take necessary steps to protect the crops. A total of 11 teams have been rushed to Gujarat to tackle the situation.
Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani told reporters in Vadodara that the central teams have already started their work to ascertain the damage and prevent the situation from worsening further.
The state government is also exploring the possibility of using drones to spray insecticides, news agency PTI quoted Rupani as saying.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said that this was for the second time in a month that the state has witnessed such an insect invasion from Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the infestation has also triggered politics over the issue with the state unit of the Congress accusing the Rupani government of failing to counter the problem. Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda said that the state government’s measures to “contain the locust attack were inadequate”.
