Familiar tale

The Locust swarm has taken Pakistan by storm, ravaging our crops with little to hinder their onslaught. The swarm is said to be the worst in decades. Several Asian countries like Iran, the UAE and India have lost a large chunk of their crops to the swarm. The pandemic is not the only threat our country is facing, the locust swarm is yet another crisis for our already troubled agricultural sector. The farmer's cultivation and hard work has been ruined, while the food security of millions is now in peril. Another problem is the lacklustre response from the government, which has failed to plan and implement any countermeasures.

Due to this ineptitude, many Pakistanis now run the risk of starvation, the majority of whom are already impoverished. However, we have come to expect no less from our government, both the reactions to this swarm and the Covid-19 pandemic are par for the course, a callous approach to preventative measures and precautions leads to thousands of avoidable deaths. This is a theme that repeats itself across all the natural and human-made disasters this country has ever faced.

Zuhaib Shah

Karachi