Locusts exterminated from Bahawalpur

BAHAWALPUR: Commissioner Asif Iqbal Chaudhry on Thursday said Cholistan and other areas of Bahawalpur division have been cleared from locusts and no trace of locust or its eggs were found in a recent survey.

The commissioner said surveillance of locusts would continue during Eid holidays since locusts are still breeding in some areas of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and India.

“Various operations were conducted in the division and 1,182 acres of land was sprayed with Malathion and Lambda-cyhalothrin with the help of the latest 600 spraying machines and helicopters of Pakistan Army,” he highlighted. Asif said an area over 95,000 acres was sprayed during the previous operation against locust, adding that the insects entered Bahawalpur from Jalalpur Pirwala in Uch Sharif area on May 15 and then moved towards Rahim Yar Khan and Cholistan.

“An intense operation during the last five days helped eradicate the pest from Cholistan and other areas of the division,” he added. Commissioner Asif Iqbal also informed media that as many as 366 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the division, of which 244 have recovered.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2020.