Six employees of Sindh agriculture dept die after exposure to locust pesticide

Published September 22, 2020
Employees fainted while the pesticide was being sprayed, after which they were taken to hospitals. — AFP/File
Employees fainted while the pesticide was being sprayed, after which they were taken to hospitals. — AFP/File

Six employees of the Sindh Agriculture Department died in different areas of the province after exposure to an anti-locust pesticide, minister Ismail Rahu said on Tuesday.

Rahu said the employees had fainted while the pesticide was being sprayed, after which they were taken to hospitals.

He said four of them were also diagnosed with the novel coronavirus at hospitals, while two had suffered cardiac arrests, according to medical reports.

Rahu said in a summary presented to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, he had requested that the deceased be declared "martyrs" and also urged the chief minister to provide jobs to their family members.

He said he had also requested the government to issue bonuses for those participating in the anti-locust spray campaign.

The campaign against locusts was started by the Sindh government last year in order to protect crops from attacks.

Locust swarms entered Balochistan last year in March and spread to Sindh by June 2019. After summer breeding in Nara and Thar deserts of Sindh, locusts migrated to the Indian Rajasthan desert in July and re-entered in Sindh in October 2019, partially destroying the crop of wheat, mustard and vegetables.

Last month, the federal government announced that a Beaver aircraft had been deployed in Tharparkar for aerial spray to control locusts.

According to a report by the World Bank, Pakistan is located at a crossroads for migration of desert locusts in South Asia. Therefore, effectively controlling the locust crisis is not only crucial for Pakistan itself, but is critical for the entire Southwest Asia region.

Opinion

Editorial

Back in parliament
Updated 27 Jul, 2024

Back in parliament

It is ECP's responsibility to set right all the wrongs it committed in the Feb 8 general elections.
Brutal crime
27 Jul, 2024

Brutal crime

No effort has been made to even sensitise police to the gravity of crime involving sexual assaults, let alone train them to properly probe such cases.
Upholding rights
27 Jul, 2024

Upholding rights

Sanctity of rights bodies, such as the HRCP, should be inviolable in a civilised environment.
Judicial constraints
Updated 26 Jul, 2024

Judicial constraints

The fact that it is being prescribed by the legislature will be questioned, given the political context.
Macabre spectacle
26 Jul, 2024

Macabre spectacle

Israel knows that regardless of the party that wins the presidency, America’s ‘ironclad’ support for its genocidal endeavours will continue.