IT’S MAY 27. A few minutes past 11 am. Down To Earth reporters had just arrived in Pachgaon village, Dholpur district, Rajasthan, to enquire about desert locusts that are crossing over to India way ahead of the monsoon rain and invading new areas. As if on cue, a huge swarm, resembling a long rust-colored low cloud, appeared from nowhere. It quickly swelled forward, taking over the sky and nearly obliterating the desert sun. Bewildered, the residents ran out of their homes and gathered in the open. But before they could get a grasp on the situation, millions of locusts started falling like hail and clung to everything that looked green. Within no minutes, the trees and bushes turned into ragged mounds of glistening brown. Some leaned over to touch the ground—tropical grasshoppers weigh about 2-2.5 gram. A few youngsters took photographs as the others stood motionless.
It was for the first time the residents had seen something like this. Soon the severity of the situation dawned on them. Some residents fetched their utensils and started beating and banging them. Ram Babu, a farmworker in his 60s, rushed to his farm to scare away the pests with a piece of cloth. He repeated the exercise for almost an hour in the 46 o Cheat. “I saw on the news yesterday about locust attacks in Jaipur, but did not think they would attack our village too,” he said, trying to call the landowner to inform him about the attack.
The nervous clamour of people did not let the swarm stay in the village for more than 40 minutes. But during that short period, Babu lost almost one-fourth of his pumpkin crop planted on 3.5 bigha (0.3 ha) land. Peepul, babool and keekar (Prosopis juliflora) trees looked queer with almost bare branches and punctured leaves.
This story is from the June 16, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 16, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
