A locust invasion (PTI)
GURGAON/NEW DELHI: After a pandemic and a lockdown, lakhs of people in Gurgaon and parts of Delhi and Faridabad checked another box on the 2020 list of the unprecedented — a locust invasion.
Giant swarms of desert locusts, one of them about 5km in length, burst into Gurgaon around 11am on Saturday and snapped through some of its most populated and upscale neighbourhoods, spreading alarm and awe at a sight associated with a National Geographic programme, not looking out of one’s window.
As the pests speckled the city skies for two hours, sirens blared and residents clanged utensils across colonies and scores of highrises — where people in the upper floors saw the swarm fly past their balconies and windows at eye level — to repel the locusts. The wind eventually carried the swarm into Faridabad and onward towards western UP. The locusts invaded parts of Delhi too but largely flew past the outskirts of the capital. The last swarm left the Gurgaon urban area around 1.15pm.
Noida sounded an alert later in the day as a swarm was spotted over Dankaur in the evening, flying in the direction of Bulandshahr. Noida administration officials did not rule out another swa