LAKKI MARWAT: Locusts entered the district on Sunday prompting the local administration and the line departments to rush to the infested areas to control the situation.

Local people and a surveillance team of agriculture department noticed the presence of pests and brought the matter into the notice of the authorities concerned. Afterwards, teams were sent to the area near Darra Pezu town.

“The locust movement was seen in a rural area bordering DI Khan district on Saturday evening, said a local resident. He said the flying insects spent the night in the mountainous area near Pezu town.

“We reached the infested area early morning and conducted spray,” said Latif Khan, an official of agriculture department. He said locusts had entered the district from Tank side, but a large number of them had been eliminated through continuous spray in the mountainous area.

“The insects did not cause any loss as the rural areas bordering DI Khan and Tank districts are mountainous and not agricultural,” he claimed, saying that the leftover pests flew onward to Dera Ismail Khan at noon.

He said that swarms of locusts were also seen flying over Darra Pezu town onward to DI Khan on Sunday evening.

Additional deputy commissioner Noorul Amin spent the day in the town and the border localities to supervise the pest control effort.

Officials of locusts’ management committee constituted by deputy commissioner Abdul Haseeb on the directives of the provincial government also visited the site.

“After discussing the situation with the administration officials the employees of agriculture department carried out spray and took other measures to eliminate the insects,” said Dr Mubarak, a livestock expert. He said locusts had been contained after successful operation.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2020