WATCH: Locals fight locusts by clanging utensils & bursting crackers; admins prep drones

As the swarms of locusts continue to cross the India-Pakistan border and continue to create problems by destroying the crops, Citizens of Bikaner, Rajasthan have resorted to making loud noises to scare the locusts away.

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The locusts were controlled by spraying insecticides in the Jaisalmer city on Sunday evening for eleven and a half hours, but the locust swarm was seen again near Ramdevra in Pokhran tehsil of Jaisalmer on Monday. The locals of Jaisalmer and adjoining areas have faced problems as the locusts damaged their crops.

The Central government has devised a plan to use drones and specialised imported machines against locusts which have started damaging crops in some states, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday. He said the government is hopeful of completely repulsing attacks by locusts by September-end.

"A plan is put in place to use drones to fight off locusts which are damaging crops in some parts of the country," Tomar said, adding that pesticides will be sprayed using drones. Speaking to reporters via video conference, he said some specialised machines will be imported by the Central government.

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Tomar said that the delivery of the machines was expected to start by June end. While some of them were expected to be delivered from England by now, they could not reach India due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The machines would now be delivered by July-end.

"We are hopeful to completely stop attacks by locusts by September-end," Tomar said. 

"The Central and state governments have saved crops spread over an area of 57,000 hectares in the country from locusts," he added. 

The menace of locusts

Locust swarms from Pakistan have entered Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh threatening major damage to standing cotton crops and vegetables, a spokesperson of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had earlier said. Rajasthan is the most affected state, the spokesperson informed. The desert locust is a species of locust, a swarming short-horned grasshopper. They are known to devour everything in their path, posing an unprecedented threat to food supply and livelihoods of millions of people.