The Centre on Friday said measures to contain the spread of locust swarms have so far been carried out in over 3.5 lakh hectares of area in states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar.
On July 16 night, control operations were carried out in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
The Indian Air Force's helicopter also undertook an anti-locust operation in the Ramsar area of Barmer in Rajasthan on Friday, it added.
The statement said measures to control locust swarms were carried out on July 16 night at 23 places in nine districts (Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Nagaur, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jalore and Sirohi) of Rajasthan and Kutch district of Gujarat by Locusts Control Officers (LCOs).
Besides this, respective state agriculture departments also carried out control operations at two places in the district of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, and one place in the district of Pali in Rajasthan.
Since April 11, locust control operations have been carried out in more than 3.5 lakh hectares in nine states.
Of the total, the LCOs have taken measures in 1,76,055 hectares area in states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana,
The state governments have taken control measures in 1,76,026 hectares area in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar.
The ministry said that swarms of immature pink locusts and adult yellow locusts were found to be active on Friday in districts of Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Nagaur, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jalore and Sirohi of Rajasthan, Kutch district of Gujarat and Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh.
The country is battling the worst locust attack in the last 26 years. It is using all the latest equipment and machineries like drones and helicopters to stop its spread to more states.
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