No locusts danger to Tamilnadu: Govt

Chennai: The Tamilnadu government today said locusts which have invaded northern parts of India are unlikely to enter the State and the situation is being monitored continuously.

The State Agriculture department said it is in touch with the Central government and chances for the locusts to cross Deccan plateau and enter Tamilnadu are very less.

More parts of India are under locust attack now. The migratory pests have invaded eastern Maharashtra where four to five villages have come under attack from the locusts.

The Union environment ministry had already warned in a statement last week that locust swarms have entered Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. There is an alert for national capital Delhi.

Locusts normally affect districts in western Rajasthan but this time the swarms have travelled as far as Jaipur city. The swarms later headed towards Dausa district.

The swarms are travelling farther and damaging trees as there are no standing crops for them to feed on, an official said.

In Jaipur’s Murlipura and Vidhyadhar Nagar areas, people beat “thalis” at the locusts that had settled on walls and trees, hoping to make them move on.

“The menace of locust has spread to 18 districts of Rajasthan and they are rapidly travelling in search of food,” Om Prakash, the Commissioner of State agriculture department, said.