The National Disaster Management Authority’s spokesman informed on Friday that 61 districts across the country are under attack from locusts, which have been damaging food crops.
Providing a breakdown of the districts, the NDMA spokesman said that the most attacks were reported in Balochistan, where 31 districts witnessed crop damage from locusts.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 districts faced locust attacks while 12 districts of Punjab were also attacked by the insects.
The NDMA spokesman said that crops in seven districts of Sindh were also damaged.
The NDMA spokesman said that the survey and operations in locust-hit areas are underway, adding that 1,150 locust-control teams are a part of the operation.
The authority further said that in the past 24 hours, around 313,000 hectares of land were surveyed for the evaluation of damage.
The spokesman apprised that 4,400 hectares were treated across Pakistan, while in Balochistan 1,700 hectares of land were sprayed with insecticides.
In Punjab, 1,000 hectares of land were sprayed while in KP, 900 hectares of land were treated.
In Sindh, 800 hectares of land were treated, added the NDMA spokesman.
The swarms have been devouring mango, cotton, and sugarcane crops, causing severe damage to the agricultural sector.
In a bid to facilitate complaints related to locusts, NDMA has activated a hotline 051-111-222-999 for registering and resolving issues pertaining to their attacks.
