NEW DELHI/GURUGRAM/LUCKNOW: Swarms of locusts entered Gurugram in Haryana and border areas of the national capital on Saturday, and attacked crops in another half a dozen districts in Uttar Pradesh, prompting authorities to sound an alert while the Centre deputed more teams from Rajasthan to assist in the control operations.
The locust swarms have been coming in waves into Rajasthan from Pakistan over the last one and a half months and devouring crops along their path as they cross from one state to another. The border state has now asked the Centre to use helicopters for spraying insecticides to exterminate the locusts.
The skies over many parts of Gurugram turned dark around noon as a swarm spread over several kilometres descended on the city from Rewari district where it had settled at night.
Huge swarms of locust have now reached Gurugram and covered large tracts of the region in Haryana.#LocustsAttack https://t.co/ZMnbiDRY1D
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) 1593240057000
An advisory was issued by the district administration to all the residents on Friday asking them to keep their doors and windows closed as a precautionary measure. Yet, the invasion of the locusts, which settled on trees, rooftops and plants, left the people anxious and many shared videos taken from their high-rise perches.
Swarms were also spotted in Dwarka and Asola Bhatti area in South Delhi.
Officials said as there was a change in wind direction, the locusts moved away from the r