Swarms of crop-destroying desert locusts have reached Noida. Multiple videos shot by residents showed massive clusters of locusts flying in the Gautam Buddh Nagar district. The swarm of locusts also invaded other districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Deoria, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Bhadohi, Azamgarh and Ambedkar Nagar. Meanwhile, neighboring districts of Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Mirzapur, Sultanpur, Mau, and Ballia have been asked to remain alert. A swarm had attacked the Shahganj area of Jaunpur district on Thursday and 50 percent of them were killed.
About 60-70 percent of the swarm in the Shankargarh block of Allahabad was also killed. Residents were distracting the locusts by making high-decibel sound through the beating of drums, utensils; playing high-volume music, bursting crackers, and burning neem leaves.
Social media users too shared photos and videos of the locust attack in Noida, Gurugram and other areas.