Odisha Govt Issues SOP As Locust Swarm Enters Chhattisgarh

Bhubaneswar: With a swarm of over one crore locusts entering Chhattisgarh early Monday morning, the Odisha government has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to counter the threat.

Briefing the media after an urgent meeting, Director, Agriculture & Food Production, M Muthukumar said that the Agriculture officers at the block and district levels have been asked to conduct a detailed survey on the movement of the locust swarm.

Stating that the meeting decided to form district-level monitoring committees, he said the District Agriculture Officers (DAOs) have been sensitized on the matter while the nodal officers in all 30 districts have been asked to keep a close watch.

“The movement of the locust swarm to Odisha primarily depends on the monsoon and the wind direction. Still, we are ready to counter the threat,” Muthukumar said.

Meanwhile, reports from Chhattisgarh said that the locust swarm numbering over one crore with a stretch of three km arrived in the Bharatpur reserve forest area in Koriya district early morning.

The villagers living on the periphery of the reserve forest were found driving out the locusts by bursting crackers and beating drums while the Fire personnel sprayed pesticides.

Notably, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations had told the Centre this week that several successive waves of invasions can be expected until July in Rajasthan with an eastward surge across northern India as far as Bihar and Odisha followed by westward movements and a return to Rajasthan on the changing wind associated with the monsoon.

It has also said that the locust swarm is most likely to enter western Odisha between June and July 15.