Seven border districts on alert

Collectors told to form panels for measures

The agriculture department has alerted all Telangana districts bordering Maharashtra about a possible locust attack from the neighbouring State.

According to agriculture secretary B. Janardhan Reddy, swarms of locusts have already reached Amaravati district in Maharashtra and officials there were trying to control their spread further.

The Locust Warning Centre in Jodhpur, when contacted, had informed Telangana officials that there are chances of the swarms reaching Telangana in case the officials in Maharashtra failed to control their movement.

The Rajasthan officials also indicated that locusts were likely to cover 12 to 15 km in an hour and cause severe loss to standing crops by sitting on nearby trees.

After a meeting with entomology department scientists of the agriculture university, and the Central Integrated Pest Management Centre and National Institute of Plant Health Management, Mr. Janardhan Reddy alerted the administrations of Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Nirmal and Jayashankar Bhupalapally districts bordering Maharashtra about the locust attack.

Collectors of the seven districts were asked to form committees with scientists and officials of agriculture and horticulture departments and keep necessary insecticides ready to contain the locust spread. Forming village level committee was also suggested to take counter measures swiftly.