Locust attacks crops on 62,000 acres, PA told

LAHORE:Provincial Minister for Disaster Management Khalid Mehmood on Friday told Punjab Assembly that the government conducted a locust survey on 2.6 million acres of land out of which 62,000 acres were found affected by the locust attack.

Speaking during the question hour session in Punjab Assembly, the Provincial Minister stated that it was true that no compensation had been given to the farmers whose crops were attacked by locust because under the law, the compensation amount could only be paid when the loss was less than 50 percent.

The session was chaired by Deputy Speaker Mir Dost Mohammed Mazari and later by Chairman of Panel Mian Mohammed Shafi. During the session, Suhaib Bhert, the PMLN MPA from Sargodha exchanged heated arguments with Parliamentary Secretary Syed Ghazanfar Hussein Shah for allegedly receiving inappropriate and incomplete answers. The chair on the occasion admonished the PMLN legislator and asked him to leave the House for using objectionable language. Besides, Parliamentary leader of PPP Hassan Murtaza grilled the govt for its inability to control the price hike. The PA session was adjourned after it failed to meet the quorum pointed out by an Opposition member.