Tiddis return: Locust swarms hit central UP, damages Lucknow and Sitapur crops

New Delhi : At a time when India is dealing with coronavirus crisis and imposing lockdowns to keep people stay indoors, swarm of crop eating locusts are out making things worse for people who have to stay out. Locust reached central Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The swarm was reported in Unnao, Sitapur, Barabanki and Lucknow district. 

"A very large swarm of locust entered Lucknow from nearby Unnao. The swarm was spread across four square kilometers. It fragmented into smaller swarms and crossed into Barabanki,” said Manish Bansal Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Lucknow. "We deployed large sound systems atop vehicles in area where the locusts were reported to scare them away," he added.

In order to keep tiddis away from the crops, fire tenders filled with chemical sprays have also been rushed to some of the areas on the outskirts of the city where locusts have been reportedly settling in. 

Locusts swarms was reported in villages under Kakori area along with many parts of the city including Indiranagar, Thakurganj, Aliganj and Dubagga. Teams of local police patrolled the area in their vehicle with their sirens on.

As per forest department officials the swarm comprised of both developing ‘pink’ locust and developed ‘yellow’ locust. The swarm is believed to have remained in Lucknow for around four hours. “The officials concerned have been directed to review the damage caused by the locusts swarm. We are also on alert to handle any more swarms of the insect,” said Bansal.

Reportedly these locust swarms originated from North Africa and reached India via Pakistan.