Posted: June 27, 2020 10:51:22 pm
Locusts first made their way to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and have now entered Haryana, (Archive)
The Haryana government issued a high alert on Saturday after a swarm of locusts 5 km long and 2 km wide entered the Mahendragarh district of Rajasthan state before dividing into two parts and settling in Rewari and Gurgaon. Officials estimated that nearly 2 crore lobsters were part of the swarm that moved through Faridabad and Jhajjar as well but did not cause any significant damage.
“It is a huge swarm consisting of 1.5 crores to 2 crores of lobsters. Initially, the 5 km long and 2 km wide swarm entered Mahendragarh and then moved to the Rewari district, where it settled in 12 villages, ”said the additional chief secretary of Haryana (agriculture), Sanjeev Kaushal, a The Indian Express.
“There was a strong application of insecticide during the night and early in the morning. About 35 percent of the swarm was destroyed, but the rest, which was still huge in number, took off from there and crossed the Jhajjar district and then headed for Gurgaon, ”he said.
Officials anticipate that the swarms can be moved to Uttar Pradesh from Gurgaon via Palwal taking into account “the speed and direction of the wind.” “But you can also move to Sonipat and Panipat before moving to Uttar Pradesh,” added Kaushal. Lobsters move with the flow of the wind and can travel 100-150 km in one day.
Meanwhile, the Union Agriculture Ministry said that ground control teams are constantly tracking swarms and will carry out major control operations once the locusts settle. Control operations are underway in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. “More control teams from Rajasthan have moved to Haryana and UP to assist in locust control operations in these two states,” the ministry said in a statement.
Haryana’s Minister of Welfare and Agriculture JP Dalal, who rushed to Rewari to monitor the operation, said that lobsters can only be attacked when they settle at night. “When the locusts entered Haryana, they were in a swarm but split in two and moved to Gurgaon via Jhajjar on Saturday morning,” said Dalal.
Dalal said the Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, and Rewari districts had been alerted on Friday itself.
About the Rewari district, he said that 15 fire tenders, in addition to several tractor-mounted spraying facilities, were brought into service during the night operation, which was personally conducted and supervised by Deputy Commissioner Yashendra Singh. Dalal said that even central government experts who visited Rewari to assess the situation appreciated the timely action taken by the district administration.
According to the initial reports, according to Kaushal, “locusts have affected cotton and bass culture on 2,000-2,500 hectares, but the extent of the damage has been estimated at just 5-10 percent.”
In Gurgaon, the lobster warning was issued on Friday night, advising residents to keep their windows and doors closed and to gather in the event of an attack and make loud noises hitting cans, plates, and drums to ward off insects.
Meanwhile, the deputy director of the Department of Agriculture in Gurgaon, Atmaram Godara, said that before passing through Gurgaon on Saturday, the swarm had split into four: two passed over Gurgaon towards Delhi, while one went towards Jhajjar and the other towards Nuh.
“However, due to the change in wind direction, eventually even the groups that had moved to Delhi and Jhajjar went to Faridabad and Nuh,” Godara said.
According to officials, around 200 tractor cars with spray pumps were organized in Gurgaon, and around 2,000 liters of chlorpyrifos, a drug used as a chemical deterrent, were purchased to spray on locusts in Gurgaon.
“Fortunately, there has been no damage in Gurgaon as the swarm flew through the district without descending anywhere,” Godara said.
In Jhajjar, where the locusts arrived around 8 a.m., officials said they had already received a warning about the arrival of the swarms from the Rewari district. Village sarpanches were alerted in the district, and villagers were already present in their fields when the swarm descended. In Faridabad, similarly, Deputy Commissioner Yashpal Yadav said that the administration had been prepared for the attack and that no damage had occurred.
Later in the day, a small swarm of locusts had entered the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary area of south Delhi near the border with Haryana, Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai said, adding that He has asked the state forest department to play dhols, drums, and DJ music and spray chemicals to control the swarm. The south, west, and southwest districts of Delhi were put on high alert and the district magistrates were asked to make preparations.
Meanwhile, Kaushal said residents in urban areas should not worry. “The swarm is scary but would not cause damage. Normally, the locust swarm does not settle in urban areas,” he said, adding that “locusts cause damage only to crops.”
“We have insecticides in sufficient quantities other than tractor-mounted spray guns that can be deployed when needed,” added Kaushal.
For their part, the farmers beat the ‘thalis’ and other utensils in an attempt to drive the lobsters away. Officials said WhatsApp groups were formed to spread information to farmers about the movement of insects. A control room was established to provide advance information to farmers, and an announcement was also made in the villages.
About a month ago, the Haryana government had alerted its officials when the “tiddi dal” had attacked crops in neighboring Rajasthan, but the locusts had drifted in different directions at that time.
In early January, lobsters were observed in some villages in the Fazilka and Muktsar districts of Punjab, but at the time they were effectively contained.
“Since the locusts entered India from Pakistan about six months ago, the Haryana government has begun advance preparations to deal with any attack. The lobsters first went to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and now they have entered Haryana, ”said Dalal.

She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.