Worried About Locust Attack In Delhi? Officials Say 'Little Chance'

Since Thursday, social media messages have been warning “those in Delhi-NCR” to shut their doors and windows tightly.

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On Thursday evening, soon after the Delhi government issued an advisory with measures to prevent a “probable attack” of locusts, forwarded messages began doing the rounds on WhatsApp and social media, warning “those in Delhi-NCR” to shut their doors and windows tightly.

While Friday morning passed without incident, the message is still doing the rounds.

A message doing the rounds on Facebook.

However, an official in the Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) told HuffPost India on condition of anonymity that locusts are NOT headed towards Delhi for now.

“There is very little chance that the swarms will come to Delhi. Locusts move according to wind direction and winds are not moving towards Delhi for now,” this person said. 

They, however, cautioned that while the possibility is low, this may change if there’s a change in wind direction.

The locusts, which have left farmers on edge, entered India through Rajasthan on 11 April. The Union agriculture ministry said in a statement that there are some active swarms of immature locusts in some districts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. 

KL Gurjar, the deputy director of LWO, told The Indian Express on Thursday that the wind has to blow from west to east for the locusts to move towards Delhi from Rajasthan.

“But at present, the wind direction over Delhi is from the east. The population of locusts in Madhya Pradesh is not very high and, therefore, they won’t be able travel to Delhi. Efforts are also underway to control them there,” he told The Indian Express

Gurjar did not respond to HuffPost India’s attempts to contact him.

The Delhi government’s advisory on Thursday had suggested three preventive measures to control locust attack in the national capital. The steps included organising awareness programme for general public and farmers, spraying of insecticides and pesticides as per need and allowing the insects to rest, “especially during night”.