The worst fears of the Telangana government are coming true. The KCR government, which is already grappling with the corona pandemic, is now faced with another problem — locusts.
While Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had declared that all precautionary measures were taken to avert entry of swarms of Locust into the State, the pests have stormed Irrigation Minister Harish Rao’s political bastion – Siddipet.
The menace of locusts have entered Govardhanagiri, Gudukandula, Vardharajpalli and Ghanpur villages in Siddpet of Medak. Farmers and locals were rattled by the entry of locusts while the state administration went into a tizzy.
Earlier, Telangana CM held a high-level meeting at Pragathi Bhavan on the measures to be initiated if the locusts entered the state. A five-member Committee was appointed to keep a tab on the movement of locusts and monitor measures to prevent their entry into the state. The meeting was attended by chief secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP Mahender Reddy, Principal Secretaries ]B Janardhan Reddy, Narsing Rao, Jayesh Ranjan, Disaster management secretary Rahul Bojja, Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Praveen Rao, Agriculture University principal Scientists Dr S J Rehman among others.
In the meeting, the CM had enquired on the possible direction these Locusts groups would take in the days to come. The Locusts group that entered the country from Rajasthan, as on date are travelling to Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh from Maharashtra enroute Bhandara and Gondia. “Measures should be taken so that the Locusts do not enter our state. Areas bordering Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh should be on high alert. If they enter, they should be killed on the borders by spraying pesticides,” the CM had said.
