NDMA clears over 524,500 hectares of locust swarm

During the ongoing operation, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has so far cleared locust from over 524,500 hectares in vulnerable districts of the country.

A spokesman for the authority said on Sunday that some 1,122 teams have been executing the surveillance and anti-locust spray operation across the country’s locust hit districts. The survey of over 355,000 hectares of land and spray of over 4,230 hectare has been carried out in the last 24 hours.

In Balochistan, the anti-locust spraying was carried out at over 3,500 hectares.

In Punjab, over 30 hectares had been sprayed while the treatment of over 600 hectares has been carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Likewise, 100 hectares have been cleared from the locust in Sindh.

The spokesman said a total of 46 districts, 33 of Balochistan, nine of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of Punjab and three of Sindh, have been hit by locust swarms.

Notably, locusts were spotted in Khuzdar, Awaran, Nushki, Chaghai, Gwadar, Athal, Ketch, Panjgur, Kharan, Vishok, Quetta and other districts of Balochistan.

Several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, North and South Waziristan, Lakki Marwat, Karak, Kuram, Naushera and Khyber were affected by locust attacks.

In Punjab, the locust hit areas included Mianwali. Likewise, the affected areas of Sindh included Matyari, Jamshoro and Hyderabad.