Alert In 8 Districts Over Locust Invasion

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has instructed the official machinery concerned to be on high alert once again as there was a danger of swarms of locusts attacking.

He said that measures needed to be taken on a war footing to protect the state from the possible attack from the locusts.

Last month the swarms of locusts, which entered the country in three phases, came up to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. But they did not enter Telangana. But a swarm has come close to the state recently. The locusts are now at Azmi village near Ramtek in Maharashtra, which is about 200 km away from Telangana. If the locusts travel south, they will reach Telangana within a short span of time.

Against this background, the CM held a review meeting on Wednesday at Pragathi Bhavan on the measures to be taken to protect the state from a possible attack by the locusts. The CM obtained the latest information on the location and movement of the locusts. It was clear that if the swarms of locusts travelled south, it would be a danger to the state.

Experts pointed out that there was a possibility of the locusts hitting the state anytime between June 20 and July 5. Around that time the monsoon crops season begin in Telangana, and the crops will have sprouted by then. If the locusts attack, there will be large-scale loss, as they will eat away the tender crop. Hence the CM instructed that strict measures be taken so that the locusts did not enter the state.

The CM instructed that the Collectors in eight districts bordering Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, where there is a higher possibility of the locusts entering - Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Mulugu, Mancherial, Adilabad, Nirmal, Asifabad, Nizamabad, Kamareddy and Sangareddy - be on alert. They should review the situation from time to time and act accordingly, he said.