Locust attacks wreaked havoc in several states across India

News24xx.com -  As the whole country battles coronavirus, another danger in the form of locust attacks has wreaked havoc in several states across India. 

From Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh, locust swarms have attacked different urban and rural areas over the past few days. 

The states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh are being troubled by locust swarms that have originated from swarms matured in Iran and Pakistan’s Balochistan. 

Read more: Attack of Racism; Give Salute in the style of Nazis and Despicable Black Man, Married Wives Arrested

Locusts are insects originating from the family of grasshoppers. They’re essentially known to be solitary creatures and mind their own business. 

While they’re normally not dangerous, in certain climatic and environmental conditions they experience rise in serotonin levels and start breeding in exceeding numbers forming large swarms.

After damaging crops in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, swarms of locusts entered Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi district Wednesday and headed towards Maharashtra's Ramtek city amid what is being described as the worst attack in 26 years.

According to experts, this is the most severe locust attack in nearly 26 years which threatens to destroy crops and disrupt food security in the country.

Authorities have been advised to farmers to play loud music to drive the insects away and save crops.

"It is not a new problem and we had been facing it for a long time. This year, the locusts attack is the worst in 26 years,” an official at the Faridabad-based Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) told PTI.

Read more: Revealed! It turns out that this is the origin of the ammonium nitrate that caused the big explosion in Beirut

Over the years, most of the attacks by locust swarms in India have been localised to Rajasthan. 

But this time, due to favourable weather conditions, these locusts have travelled from Rajasthan to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and even Maharashtra. 

Reports of crop damages have been pouring in from these states as farmers try to get rid of them by spraying chemicals.

Locusts can travel in large swarms only during the day time. They can travel up to 150 kilometres in a day depending on the wind speed. The current swarm originated in East Africa and has reached India via Pakistan.