Swarms of locusts were reported in several parts of Gurugram district on Saturday.
Locusts were seen in Rajendra Park of sector 5, Surat Nagar, Dhanwapur, Palam Vihar, Maruti factory in sector 18, Sector 17 DLF phase 1 and many other places in old and new Gurugram. Swarms were also seen in condominiums such as Beverly Park, Garden Estate and Heritage City as well as buildings in Sikanderpur in the high-rise town bordering Delhi.
"The swarms moved from west to east. They entered Gurugram around 11.30 am," K L Gurjar of the Locust Warning Organisation, Ministry of Agriculture, told PTI. The pests, he said, were headed towards Palwal in Haryana.
Residents of Gurugram were surprised due to the sudden swarm of locusts around 11 am.
However, district administration has claimed that it had issued guidelines for residents, urging them to stay indoors and make noises to ward them off.
#WATCH Swarms of locusts seen in areas along Gurugram-Dwarka Expressway today. pic.twitter.com/UUzEOSZpCp
— ANI (@ANI) June 27, 2020
#LocustsAttack reaches #Gurugram in the #DelhiNCR .... this is the deepest it has hit so far. pic.twitter.com/BnENTEj4Hx
— Raju Kapoor (@rajukap) June 27, 2020
Photo by my sister of the locust attack in Gurgaon this morning .. #LocustsAttack #Gurugram pic.twitter.com/5RweOp0wXx
— jyotsna mohan (@jyotsnamohan) June 27, 2020
Locust swarm - Video Captured today morning , just 15KM from #Gurugram (Fatehpur Village)@DC_Gurugram @Dist_Admin_Ggm @DEEPAKKAHUJA @abhishekbehl @DharamvirNews @RajKVerma4 @0001sudarshan @Shubhama0779 @journojoseph @pant_shubhra @rakeshdaultabad @sudhirsinglabjp @mlkhattar pic.twitter.com/yAIpy3pEiI
— Praveen Malik (@Praveenmalik86) June 27, 2020
Locust swarms descend over parts of Gurugram neighbouring New Delhi#locustswarms @GoNews_India @DC_Gurugram #Gurugram #GurugramLocust pic.twitter.com/VKEPsZxxTu
— Sidharth Pandey (@SidharthPandey) June 27, 2020
Locusts in #Gurugram https://t.co/FdciHf21fn pic.twitter.com/5sfLDF3ks7
— Monicaa (@Monica_Shad) June 27, 2020
One of Friend Staying in Gurgaon Captured this #locustattack in #Gurugram #locustattack #LocustsAttack #StayHomeStaySafe pic.twitter.com/X94FhR9e2i
— Harsh Singh (@hsingh21) June 27, 2020
Locust at Gurgaon #locustattack #Gurugram #delhincr pic.twitter.com/RvS8NN0Xng
— Dr. Monika arora (@monika18arora) June 27, 2020
Residents used mikes, and loudspeakers to keep locusts away from their homes.
Alarmed at the invasion of the locusts, which settled on trees, rooftops and plants, many residents of Gurugram also shared videos from their high-rise perches.
In May, India battled a devastating desert locust outbreak. The crop-destroying swarms first attacked Rajasthan and then spread to Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Gurugram district administration is assessing the damage due to the locust attack.
The locusts reportedly crossed Gurugram in around an hour and headed towards South Delhi.
On Friday, small swarms of locusts from the jungles of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh attacked villages of Banda and Chitrakoot districts in Uttar Pradesh, following which villagers beat drums to chase them away.
According to SDM, Atarra in Banda, Jaiprakash Yadav, there has been minor damage to crops at some places. The district agriculture officer of Chitrkoot, Dharmendra Awasthi, said that swarms of locusts reached Aujhar, Sariya, Chibau, Naandi and other villages but the farmers were vigilant.
He said locusts on Thursday invaded Turra, Bhusani, Udaipur, Banai, Gautampur, Atarra rural, Naktapurva, Mudwara, Chandaur and Pohar villages but farmers chased them away.
Agriculture officers and their teams are regularly monitoring the villages, he said. The swam later flew back to the forests of Madhya Pradesh.
(Inputs from IANS, TNM)