Sindh miffed at locust purchase centres

Says Centre set up 12 centres in Thar without consulting provincial government


Sameer Mandhro July 01, 2020
PHOTOs: COURTESY KHALID JOGI

Expressing dismay over the Centre's move to set up locust-buying centres in Sindh without taking it onboard, the Sindh government denied on Tuesday of having any plans of establishing similar centres in any part of the province.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Sindh Agriculture Minister Muhammad Ismail Rahoo said that not the provincial government but the federal government had set up the centers to buy locusts.

"[And] we are not taken into confidence [on the matter]," he complained. "We were not told if any such development was to take place."

At least 12 centres for purchasing locusts, dead or alive, have been set up in different parts of Tharparkar district. Of them, two each have been established in Chhachhro, Islamkot, Mithi and Daahli and the rest in other areas of the district. The rate for per kilogramme of locusts has been fixed at Rs15 and the centres will open from today (Wednesday).

The decision to establish centres for buying locusts was made in a meeting on Monday headed by Pakistan Agriculture and Research Council's South zone director general Dr Attaullah Khan and deputy commissioner Muhammad Nawaz Soho.

The Sindh government has not been happy with the decision.

"We demanded of the federal government to provide vehicles and jets for [aerial] spraying," Rahoo said, "but have not received any response."

He went on to dub the new strategy by the federal government to tackle the situation "strange" and "nothing else but a joke."

Rahoo said that at least 22 district of Sindh were affected by locusts, and desert areas, including Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Ghotki and Sukkur, would likely suffer more damage in the coming days.

He said that the survey was underway to estimate the economic loss caused by locust attacks, adding that at least eight million hectares of land had been surveyed by his department thus far. He also said that roughly 52,000 hectares of land had been sprayed with insecticides, pointing out that "the federal government carried out spraying on just 13,000 hectares."

On the other hand, the residents of Tharparkar believe that the opportunity to sell locusts will provide majority with another means of earning income.

"This will help people financially," writer Khalid Jogi, a resident of Mithi, commented. "I see people having a new business in the coming days," he laughed. "And it will also help government to get rid of the [locust] mess."

According to Jogi, "the people of the desert are already enjoying different dishes made of locusts and now they will also be able to sell them to earn more money."

Jogi said that different hotels in Mithi and other cities of the district were already selling locusts biryani and other dishes. On this note, Rahoo, told The Express Tribune of him, too, having tasted locust biryani in Mithi. He said that people of Tharparkar knew how to cook dishes made of locusts. But according to Jogi, the idea may sound novel but it is not new.

"Locust dishes are famous across Tharparkar for centuries," he said.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2020

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