Swarms of desert locusts enter Bhopal, people shoot videos

The agriculture department is planning to spray chemicals on the group once they settle down on trees during the night.

Swarms of desert locusts on Sunday entered Madhya Pradesh’s capital city of Bhopal and the neighbouring district of Raisen, prompting the agriculture department to swing into action with active tracking of the insects and plan to spray them with chemicals during the night.

A man rides a bike as a swarm of locusts fly over a field in Bhopal.(PTI Photo)

Locusts have visited the Bhopal city for the first time after entering the state from Rajasthan around mid May. People came out in several localities in Bhopal to watch the swarms of locusts with curiosity and make videos with their smartphones.

There are two groups of swarms, including a big one spread in the area of about 1.5 kilometres near a canal at Kolar Road and another in the Berasia area. The swarm of locusts in the Berasia area had moved into jungles but returned to the same area with winds, said deputy director, Agriculture in Bhopal SN Sonaniya.

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The officer said, “We have sought help from the fire brigade to use fire tenders to spray chemicals on the insects when they settle on trees in the night. It’s difficult to spray chemicals with normal sprayers given the height of trees on which they settle. We hope to control them tonight.”

Deputy director of Agriculture department in Raisen NP Suman said, “We have got reports about swarms of locusts from a couple of places. Since there is no crop in the agriculture field, the farmers are not worried but continuation of their presence in the state may pose a threat to kharif crops. We are trying to control them.”

As per another official from the agriculture department, about 35 districts have been affected so far by desert locusts.