Telangana ready to face possible locust attack
About 15,000 litres of pesticides would be kept ready at the borders of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh from where the locusts are likely to enter the State.
by Express News ServiceHYDERABAD: The State government has been taking all measures to face the possible locust attack on crops in the State. About 15,000 litres of pesticides would be kept ready at the borders of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh from where the locusts are likely to enter the State.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan here on Thursday and directed the Agriculture and Forest Department officials to be on high alert on the possible invasion of locusts into the State. He constituted a five-member committee to take measures to kill them as they enter Telangana.
The five-member official committee would be camping in Ramagundam for four days starting from Friday and examine the movements of the locusts. The team would monitor the situation from Adilabad to Bhadrachalam by heli-hopping.
15,000 litres of pesticides to be kept ready at borders
The locusts, after entering the country, attacked crops at Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra. From there, they are now moving in swarms towards Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh, the officials told the Chief Minister at the meeting. From MP, the pests may enter Punjab. If the air direction is southwards, then the locusts may enter the State from Chhattisgarh. Though the chances of them entering Telangana are remote, the government, nonetheless, has been taking all precautionary measures.
Besides constituting the committee, the Chief Minister also alerted district Collectors, SPs and other officials about the locust attack in the border districts like Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Mulugu, Jayashankar-Bhupalpally, Mancherial, Asifabad, Adilabad and Peddapalli. He asked them to keenly watch the movements of the locusts.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to keep ready 15,000 litres of Malathion, Chlorpyrifos and Lambda Cyhalothrin. For spraying these, 12 fire tenders and 12 jetting machines would be used. Besides, the officials would also be in touch with senior officials of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh to know the developments.
Five-member committee
The committee comprises Central Integrated Plant Management plant protection officer R Sunitha, Agriculture University principal scientist SJ Rahman, Warangal Conservator of Forest Md Jalaluddin Akbar, Ramagundam CP V Satyanarayana and Mancherial Collector Bharati Hollikeri.