Official confirmation of their presence is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that the insects may have entered Mumbai through Gujarat
On Thursday afternoon, frantic Mumbaikars started calling authorities and journalists to confirm if locusts had landed in Mumbai.
Though official confirmation of locusts reaching Mumbai is yet to be ascertained, messages claiming their presence were doing the rounds on WhatsApp. A Matunga resident posted a message "Locusts have reached Mumbai, entered houses in Goregaon and Malad."
After videos of pests that looked like locusts surfaced on WhatsApp groups, frantic Mumbaikars started calling authorities and journalists to confirm if locusts had landed in Mumbai.This video was shot by a Mumbai resident.#LocustAttack #Locusts #MumbaiNews pic.twitter.com/lDbF4atAEO
— Mid Day (@mid_day) May 28, 2020
A few minutes later, a resident of Vashi, Navi Mumbai contacted this journalist inquiring if there was a locust attack in Mumbai, as social media was getting flooded with messages. He said, "My daughter was asking and I told her, it could be a rumor.”
However, within few minutes, a video shot by a resident of a highrise residential tower in Eastern Express Highway captured hundreds of swarming insects/pests, which looked like swarm of locusts.
The locusts have landed! Welcome to Mumbai, locustji. Feel free to mingle with our political pests... pic.twitter.com/cr0OIvY8Zm
— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) May 28, 2020
mid-day sent out the videos and photographs captured, to Dr Anil Kohle, professor of Entomology at the College of Agriculture, Nagpur. Dr Khole said, "I have gone through the photographs and the video. While the pictures confirm that they are locusts, prima-facie the video taken from the highrise of Eastern Express Highway is creating a doubt. I have forwarded the video and pictures shared by mid-day to senior state agricultural officials and scientists and they would ascertain the same.”
When asked how locusts could reach Mumbai, Dr Khole was of the opinion that they might have entered the city from Gujarat. The insects had entered Gujarat from Pakistan. “Mumbai is known for having green lungs in both western and central suburbs, and these Locusts can damage the green lungs. Immediate measures will need to be taken by the authorities,” said Dr Khole.
He added, “If they settle, trees, vegetations, and even gardens will get destroyed, due to their large presence and this might be challenging, especially when Mumbai is fighting COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, a swarm of locust, which had entered Nagpur, made headway to Terni village in Tumsar taluka in Bhandara late Wednesday night.
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