NDMA sprays 487,000 hectares to kill locusts

ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has so far carried out poisonous fumes spray of over 478,000 hectare area of locust hit areas.

An NDMA spokesman said on Saturday that some 1,113 teams were engaged in the locusts control operation in the affected districts.

The spray of 5,600 hectare area and survey of 366,000 hectare area under the locusts attack have been carried out in the last 24 hours.

They have conducted both aerial and ground spray of 2,800 hectare area of Balochistan, 700 hectare area of Punjab, 900 hectare area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 1,200 hectare area of Sindh during the last 24 hours.

The spokesman said a total of 61 districts, 31 of Balochistan, 10 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9 of Punjab and 11 of Sindh, had been hit by the locust swarms.

Meanwhile, NDMA) on Saturday operationalised two more separate hotlines for prompt registration of locust and coronavirus related complaints.

A spokesman of NDMA said in a statement that the COVID-19 related complaints could be registered by contacting 24/7 hotline 0304-111-01-61 while locust related complaints could be registered at 0304-111-01-62. The hotline has been established at the operation room of NDMA.

A dedicated hotline 051-111-157-157 has already been working for registration of complaints by doctors.

Farmers could also register their complaints regarding existence of locust in their respective areas on 051-222-999.