As per reports in The Indian Express, several residential localities of Jaipur was invaded by a large swarm of locusts on Monday. Normally locusts affect districts in Western Rajasthan but this time have traveled all their way into Jaipur, said officials from the Agriculture Department, adding that similar swarms of the crop-devouring insects would likely be spotted in the forthcoming days.
“Since the last one year, locust swarms have resulted in serious losses for farmers. We believe this time the swarms came all the way to Jaipur because the locusts couldn’t find any crop to consume—most of the crop has already been harvested,” said BR Karwa, deputy director at the Agriculture Department
“On May 22, similar locust swarms had entered Jaipur. This was the first instance since 1993 that locust swarms entered the city,” he said.
The swarm, originating in North-West Pakistan, passed through Barmer and Jaisalmer districts before arriving at Jaipur through Nagaur and Sikar.
“The locusts went over localities such as Vidhyadhar Nagar and Shastri Nagar before flying towards Dausa. There were lakhs of locusts coming from western Rajasthan after originating in Pakistan,” added Karwa.
He asserted that the state government, along with the Centre, had assigned several teams to monitor locust attacks through spraying of pesticides.
“After staying in Jaipur for a few hours, the swarm went towards Dausa. Generally locust swarms arrive during winters but this time it has started early. We are expecting more such swarms in the coming days,” said Karwa.
Locust attacks have been a major concern in Rajasthan since last year, with swarms harming large portions of crops.