Huge swarms of crop-destroying locusts have descended on the town of Gurgaon, and covered large tracts of the region in Haryana.?
Several areas in Gurgaon saw swarms of locust covering the skies on Saturday, with people sharing pictures and videos of apocalyptic-esque scenes to their social media handles.?
The dark cloud of locusts, spread across two kilometres, crossed the suburban city, touched the Delhi-Gurugram border but did not enter Delhi.?High alert has been issued in adjoining districts of Delhi as well.?
The migratory pests are likely to spare the national capital Delhi for now, officials told news agency PTI.?
Gurugram residents were last evening asked to keep their windows shut as precaution against a locust attack by the city administration as a swarm was sighted in an adjoining district.
Alarmed at the invasion of the locusts, which settled on trees, rooftops and plants, many residents of Gurugram shared videos from their high-rise perches.
Locals in Gurgaon have now resorted to banging utensils, tin, bursting crackers and making loud noises in all possible ways to scare the locust swarms away.??
Strong winds are further aiding the movement of locusts as the swarm attack continues for over an hour in large parts of Gurgaon.??
Massive swarms of desert locusts have been destroying crops in many parts of western and central India, spearing into Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab now, after Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.??
Locusts form swarms in Africa and fly from Iran, Pakistan to India. They are known to have an enormous appetite. They eat plants and can wreck massive damage to crops in days if left unchecked.