Pakistan declares national emergency over locust swarms
Pakistan’s government declared a national emergency on Saturday in response to swarms of desert locusts in the eastern part of the country.
Prime Minister Imran Khan made the emergency declaration following a government briefing on the situation on Friday.
“We are facing the worst locust infestation in more than two decades and have decided to declare national emergency to deal with the threat,” Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Saturday.
The desert locusts — large herbivores that resemble grasshoppers — arrived in Pakistan from Iran in June and have already ravaged cotton, wheat, maize and other crops.
Favorable weather conditions and a delayed government response have helped the locusts breed and attack crop areas.
Their potential for large-scale destruction is raising fears of food insecurity.
National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar said the locust swarms were currently on the Pakistan-India border along Cholistan and were previously in Sindh and Balochistan, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.
Currently, locusts swarms are affecting neighboring India and countries in East Africa.
