Central control room established to deal with locusts’ attack

KARACHI: A meeting comprising senior officials of the provincial government was convened on Tuesday to discuss the threat of locusts' attack on crops and develop a strategy to control the fallout.

Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, Sindh Agriculture Minister Muhammad Ismail Rahoo, senior members of Board of Revenue, agriculture secretary, plant protection director-general (DG) and Sindh Agriculture DG attended the meeting at the Sindh Secretariat.

Locusts swarm 6 Sindh districts, devour crops

Shah said that according to reports, locusts had appeared in the districts of Jamshoro, Matiari, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Noushero Feroz and Khairpur. Plant protection department DG said that locusts travelled to Sindh from Iran via Balochistan and an operation was also being carried out in Balochistan. Efforts include conducting aerial spray of pesticides.

Shah said that a central control room had been established at the office of chief secretary and all teams should submit their reports there. He said that the Sindh government would also write to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) to conduct survey on the route of the locusts.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2019.