9 aircraft to spray locust-infested areas: NDMA chief

ISLAMABAD: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt. Gen. Muhammad Afzal said on Wednesday nine special aircraft will be ready by Monday to spray locust-infested areas with insecticides.

Speaking to media, he said collective efforts are afoot to eradicate the menace of locust attacks.

The NDMA chief said three lac litres of Malathion insecticide have been procured from China for conducting spray in the affected areas. Five helicopters are ready to spray the locust-infested areas, he added.

He said a PAF C-130 plane had also brought a special jet from Turkey for the purpose..

Earlier, on May 20, a spokesman of the NDMA had said in a statement that both aerial and ground spray of various districts was being conducted at present.

Sharing the details of the spray, he said the spraying of 5,100 hectare areas of Balochistan, 1,900 of Punjab, 700 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 531 hectare areas of Sindh have been completed in the last 24 hours.

NDMA has also completed the survey of 125,000 hectare areas of Balochistan, 87,000 hectares area of Punjab, 65,000 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 83,000 hectare area of Sindh in last 24 hours.