Jaipur(Rajasthan): After many districts of Rajasthan witnessed locust attacks, Revenue Minister Harish Choudhary on Monday said that inspite of repeated warning by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) against locust attack no precautionary measures were taken.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Choudhary said, "Similar scenes were witnessed when cases of coronavirus were escalating. World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued a health alarm in January in view of the Covid-19 cases but no health provisions were made. The world is repeating the same mistake by not taking any strict action against locust attack.
Congress leader went on to add, "Locust attacks have been controlled in the past as people co-operated with the government. But now, with the increasing cases of coronavirus government is not getting people's participation.
Stressing on the need for precautionary measures, Choudhary added, "FAO had clearly stated that this time, locust attacks are going to be severe. The government should buckle up and provide adequate help to the states in this hour of crisis."
Slamming the Union Minister Kailash Chaudhary, he said, "Government can check that how locust attacks were controlled in the past. But at present, we have only eight-micron sprayers(self- contained vehicle for agricultural spraying tasks) and rest of them have turned obsolete"
READ: All you need to know about how Rajasthan is tackling the locust attack!
"Farmers of the country are facing a severe crisis which needs to be addressed. This is the time when arguments should be kept aside and help must be provided to them," he said.
Criticising the government's move of buying sprayers from UK, he said, "Imported sprayers are not that efficient. They cannot disperse locust sitting on trees. It won't be of much help."
After the surge of Covid-19 cases, Rajasthan's response to locust attack is tested again as swarms of harvest flies have damaged crops prompting the Union and the state government to take preventive measures. In a recent development, drones were deployed to control locust attack and the trial was successful. State Agricultural dept is planning to engage 30 drones by rolling out a tender.
