Uttaranchal has sounded a red alert and is bracing up for an invasion of a different kind. With reports of locust invasions coming in from Kargil and Leh areas of Ladakh region, the Uttaranchal Government has started taking preventive steps to minimise damage to crops and vegetation in the state from any possible locust invasion.

Uttaranchal agriculture secretary Om Parkash has asked the department to prepare on a war footing for any eventuality resulting from the locust attack.

District agriculture officials have been told to spray pesticides on standing crops and vegetation.

Besides alerting its own officials, the state government has also got in touch with the Plant Quarantine Station in Jodhpur as well as the Uttar Pradesh government for better coordination.

According to agriculture officials, locusts start their journey during this time of the year from Afghanistan and Balochistan in Pakistan towards the Thar Desert. Sometimes, these locusts, which often travel at a speed of 70 to 75 km per day, migrate towards Kashmir and then China, leaving behind a trail of massive destruction in their wake.

Officials fear Uttarkashi and Dehradun districts bordering Himachal Pradesh could fall in the way of the locusts this time. Dr D K Singh, the District Agriculture Officer here, said a locust invasion has already been reported from Kargil. Two teams of Central government scientists have already arrived in Kargil to study the situation. ‘‘Things will be clear after four to five days when the Central team gives its report. But if the locusts attack Himachal Pradesh all we can do is to depend on pesticides to divert their route,’’ he added.