Vadodara/Palanpur/Himmatnagar: A day after Gujarat Agriculture minister R C Faldu ruled out the possibility of use of helicopters for sprinkling of pesticides to contain the locust attacks in parts of the state, CM Vijay Rupani also reiterated it but said that it would be done with the help of drones instead of choppers.

Meanwhile BJP state president Jeetu Vaghani, Congress MLA and whip Ashwin Kotwal were also seen joining commoners in different areas of locust affected North Gujarat in shooing the pests away with traditions means of beating drums or rolling pin and dishes. Vaghani was in a village of Banaskantha while Kotawal was in Sabarkantha. A heated altercation among public also took place between Congress MLA Gulabsinh and BJP MP from Banaskantha and former minster Parbat Patel on the issue of locusts. However these leaders also drew flak from some quarters for more of ‘show-off’ than actually helping the farmers.

Talking to newsmen today CM Rupani said that the government was taking steps to contain the locusts. ‘Earlier only five central teams were involved but later 6 more were included yesterday. Now 11 teams were doing the job,’ he said.

 

<iframe width=”480″ height=”320″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/XpMt7A_3C7k” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>

To a query he said that drones would be used for sprinkling of pesticides to control the locusts.

Notably Agriculture minister R C Faldu had ruled out any possibility of sprinkling of pesticide through choppers as suggested by a ruling party MLA.
He had said that it was not possible to sprinkle the pesticide from choppers as it would be dangerous for the people and the cattle alike.

Notably, MLA of the ruling BJP from Kheralu area in locust affected Mahesana district had demanded such initiative to kill the locusts.

The terror of locust is spreading in larger areas of North Gujarat and helpless farmers were trying all kind of things from creating smoke to playing high sounding Disco Jockey (DJ) system to get rid of it.

The locusts that had entered Gujarat from Rajasthan side on December 14, have caused damage to the standing crops of castor, black mustard seed, wheat, aniseed, cotton etc in parts of Banaskantha, Patan and Mahesana districts. These pests have also been seen in parts of Kutch and Sabarkantha districts.

DeshGujarat