Last week India suffered the worst locust attack in nearly three decades as a swarm of approximately 40 million desert locusts flew into the country. Organisations including the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation(UNFA) and Locust Warning Association (LWO) had already warned states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and have now extended the warning by saying that the swarms may even affect areas in the east as well. The attack was, however, a rare occurrence and to an extent unprecedented which meant that despite an early warning there was a lack of preparation which thus meant a heavy loss of green coverage.
For many of us, a locust attack was an unheard phenomenon and a peculiar occurrence, but the actual cause of the attack is far from an anomaly. These attacks are usually still seen in the African continent which in the year 2018 saw a devastating drought followed by heavy rainfalls which caused drastic climate change conditions. These conditions were the main reason for the sudden spike in the locust population, which are nothing but grasshoppers who due to certain biological changes start behaving ‘gregariously’. This gregarious behaviour is transferred to any other grasshopper which then comes in contact with them thus, forming a huge swarm as a resultant. This formation was further aided by the cyclonic activity that occurred earlier last month which provided suitable wind conditions to the swarm for travel. These insects aren’t any regular pests and can eat their own weight(2g) and fly up to 150 km in a single day.
Controlling and killing these pests posed a serious issue as the government tried to equip farmers with knowledge and tools that could handle the situation, a task which was complicated by the lockdown. Pesticides which were previously banned were also used to protect the crops, while drones and special mounted guns were used to spray them. Thankfully, the Rabi crops had already been harvested, however, the attack poses a major risk to farmers cultivating Kharif crops who were already grieving losses owing to the pandemic.
Nature, however, was not done testing the population, as an earthquake of 4.1 magnitude was felt in parts of northern India last Friday night. The epicentre of the earthquake was found to be near Rohtak, a district in the state of Haryana. People panicked as they felt tremors which shook buildings and rushed outside to prevent any mishap from occurring. Earthquakes have always been a common occurrence in this part of northern India due to its placement on tectonic plates, but the recent increase in their number has worried many who see this as an early sign of a devastating disaster happening.
With new COVID19 case spikes being recorded every day, normalcy seemed like an unthinkable idea yet central government issued new unlock guidelines which allow the opening of many public places including malls, religious places and allowing interstate travel forcing states to step in the primary role of curbing disease spread. With each state coming up with its own set of restrictions, it is the common man who is left with confusion and lack of clarity. At one side, people face the relief of returning back to their offices and businesses at another they face the very likely danger of contracting the disease. Restaurant and gym owners are still left distraught with these businesses seeing another phase of lockdown. As we learn to live with the pandemic and the unexpected continues to happen daily, it seems like we are now living the unreal.
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