NDMA clears 524,500 hectares of land from locusts

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

According to the NDMA spokesperson, an estimated 1,122 teams have been executing the surveillance and anti-locust spray operations across the country which have been hit by swarms of the insects. The survey of over 355,000 hectares of land and spray of over 4,230 hectare of areas had been carried out in the last 24 hours.

In Balochistan, the anti-locust spraying was carried out at over 3,500 hectares of land. In Punjab over 30 hectares of land have been sprayed while the treatment of over 600 hectares of land has been carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Likewise, 100 hectares of land have been cleared from locusts in Sindh. The spokesperson further said that a total of 46 districts, 33 from Balochistan, nine of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of Punjab and three of Sindh, have been hit swarms of locusts. Notably, locusts were spotted in Khuzdar, Awaran, Naushki, Chaghi, Gwadar, Athal, Ketch, Panjgur, Kharan, Vishok, Quetta and other districts of Balochistan.

Several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Dera Ismael Khan, Tank, North and South Waziristan, Lakki Marvat, Karak, Kurram, Naushera and Khyber were affected with locust attacks. In Punjab, the locust-hit areas included Mianwali. Likewise, the affected areas of Sindh included, Matyari, Jamshoro and Hyderabad.