Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has directed the agriculture department to keep a watch on the movement of locusts for at least 10 days. He also emphasised on farmers awareness about the locust meanance.
The chief minister Tuesday reviewed the preparedness to combat the challenges posed by the locusts.
Patnaik was told that the locust swamp had returned to Madhya Pradesh from Chhattisgarh because of the wind direction.
Agriculture director M Muthukumar said that there is a possibility of the pest attack. Contingency plan has been prepared, he said adding that the fire service has been alerted and sufficient quantity of chemical has been stored.
Agriculture special secretary Suresh Kumar Vishist said that the neighbouring States like Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh have been alerted.
CMO chief adviser R Balakrishnan, development commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, special relief commissioner PK Jena, forest additional chief secretary Mona Sharma, and fire service director general Satyajit Mohanty were present.
