A kid in India's Madhya Pradesh was seen flaunting his drumming skills in a field to scare away locusts. Making a loud noise is regarded as one of the most effective ways to scare the locusts.
The video is from the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh which is one of the worst hit by the locust plague.
More updates on people trying get rid of the locust menace at their end...@ParveenKaswan pic.twitter.com/lfZHDr22rg
— Kamal Parashar (@kamal_parashar) May 28, 2020
Another video from Madhya Pradesh shows the district administration patrolling the farms using screeching police sirens to scare the short-horned insects which multiply quickly and are capable of feasting on crops.
The video is from the Panna district of Madhya Pradesh and also shows a fire engine that is being used to spray pesticides.
#WATCH Madhya Pradesh: Swarms of locusts being scared away by the district administration in Panna, using police sirens yesterday. pic.twitter.com/rEcXXsMXq1
— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2020
Similarly in Rajasthan, where 22 out of the 33 districts are grappling with the infestation, people were seen clanging plates and other utensils outside their houses while a swarm of locusts flew overhead.
The video is from Dholpur district of Rajasthan, a desert area which has been under attack by locusts. An average swarm of 40 million can consume food for around 35,000 people in one day.
#WATCH Rajasthan: People bang utensils in order to scare away the swarm of desert locusts, a type of a species of short-horned grasshoppers, which flew across Dholpur district yesterday. pic.twitter.com/O8cFBfVdYk
— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2020
Locusts have entered India from Pakistan attacking the Indian states which share a border with the country. Travelling from the the Middle East, the locusts have already reached Iran, Pakistan and India.
The federal government is working with state governments to minimise the damage, and India has also been in talks with Iran and Pakistan to come up with solutions. The early and intensified onset of the locust wave - the worst in the last 26 years - has been blamed on climate change.
