Locust swarms invade several Uttar Pradesh districts; trees, crops damaged

Swarms of locusts have invaded several districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Deoria, in the past 48 hours and attacked trees and crops, officials said Saturday, adding authorities were taking steps to either chase them away or kill them.

The UP Agriculture Department said reports of locust attacks were received from Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Bhadohi, Azamgarh and Ambedkar Nagar on Friday. It said authorities of the neighbouring districts - Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Mirzapur, Sultanpur, Mau and Ballia - have been asked to remain alert.

Deoria District Magistrate Amit Kishor said a swarm spotted in the district has moved to Kushinagar.

On Thursday, a swarm had attacked Shahganj area of Jaunpur district, where 50 per cent of them were killed. Another swarm was spotted in Shankargarh block of Allahabad and 60-70 per cent of them were killed, the agriculture department said in a statement.

In Chitrakoot district, three swarms of locusts were spotted on Thursday.

"In a joint operation by Agriculture Department, Fire Department and Central team, 50 per cent locusts were killed," the statement said.