KARACHI: Authorities in Pakistan’s seaside metropolis of Karachi urged the citizens to stay calm after a massive swarm of locusts flew over different parts of the city on Monday morning.
“The relevant departments have been alerted and there is no need to panic,” Sindh’s Minister for Agriculture, Ismail Rahoon, told Arab News, adding that locusts had not damaged any crops or plants. “This has happened for the second time since the creation of Pakistan.”
The locusts first entered District Malir of the city on Sunday. The area has plenty of agricultural land where vegetables are grown for Karachi’s largest market.
On Monday morning, social media users started sharing videos from District East, Shahrah-e-Faisal, National Stadium and Bahadurabad areas of the city where armies of locusts could be seen.
“It was a very frightening scene,” Asim Ali, a resident of Malir, told Arab News. “I have never seen locusts in such large numbers.”
However, officials said there was no need to panic.
“The locusts are migrating from summer-monsoon breeding zone to the winter-spring breeding zone of Balochistan’s coastal areas,” Muhammad Tariq Khan, Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, told Arab News.
Desert locust flies during daytime and settle at night. Such migrations do not cause any damage since such movement is not in search for food, the official said, adding: “We are monitoring the situation. The relevant desert locust control teams are ready to intervene according to the technical guidelines, if required.”
Pakistan has surveyed an area of 550,000 hectares and controlled 110,000 hectares by ground and aerial spray in Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab since March 2019.
“During this period, the locusts were confined to the desert and were not allowed to attack the cultivated area,” he informed.
Experts say desert locusts prefer sandy soil with moisture and vegetation since such habitat help them breed and multiply. In Pakistan, desert locusts have two breeding seasons and regions: the winter-spring breeding zone of Balochistan between February to June; and the summer-monsoon breeding zone of Tharparkar, Nara and Cholistan deserts between June and November.
Authorities urge calm as locusts fly over Pakistan’s megacity
Authorities urge calm as locusts fly over Pakistan’s megacity
- Officials say this is the second time locusts have entered Karachi since the creation of Pakistan
- Say the insects did not damage crops or plants
Pakistan transporters call off five-day strike after successful talks with Punjab government
- Transporters went on strike against heavy fines, penalties imposed by Punjab over traffic violations
- Punjab government sets up committee to resolve transporters issues, confirms provincial minister
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani goods transporters called off their five-day-long nationwide strike on Friday after successful talks with the Punjab government, officials and transporters confirmed, as the business community warned of an impending economic crisis if the dispute stayed unresolved.
Transporters went on a nationwide strike on Dec. 8 against stringent traffic rules and heavy fines imposed by the Punjab government over traffic violations. These penalties were included in the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 2025 last month.
The ordinance details hefty fines ranging from Rs2000 [$7] to Rs50,000 [$178] and mentions prison sentences going up to six months for various offenses committed by drivers, such as driving on the wrong side of the road or driving in vehicles with tinted windows.
“Yes, the strike has been called off after our meeting with Senior Minister of Punjab Marriyum Aurangzeb,” Nabeel Tariq, president of the All Pakistan Goods Transport Association (APGTA), told Arab News.
Tariq said fines ranging from Rs1000 ($3.6) to Rs1500 ($5.4) for traffic violations have been increased to around Rs20,000 ($71.3) as per the new rules.
He said the APGTA has agreed to accept a 100 percent or even 200 percent hike in fines. However, he said an increase of 2000 percent was not “logical.”
“Our urgent demands have been accepted and a committee has been formed to review the ordinance and come up with recommendations,” Tariq said.
Speaking to Arab News, Aurangzeb confirmed the strike had been called off after talks with the Punjab government and that a committee has been formed to resolve the transporters’ issues.
The committee will be headed by Aurangzeb and will include representatives of goods transporters, a statement issued by her office said.
“The government wants to protect human lives and make things better for all citizens,” the statement said. “We will resolve the issues (with transporters) amicably.”
‘UNPRECEDENTED CRISIS’
Pakistan’s business and industrial community, meanwhile, warned of an impending crisis if the disputed was not resolved.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) have both appealed for immediate government intervention.
Imdad Hussain Naqvi, president of the Grand Transport Alliance Pakistan (GTAP), told Arab News that over 400,000 goods carriers had been stranded across Pakistan due to the strike, affecting supplies to millions of consumers.
Earlier, in a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, APTMA Chairman Kamran Arshad said the strike has “critically impacted import and export operations which are backbone of the country’s economy.”
He said hundreds of cargo vehicles remain stranded across Punjab, creating “abnormal delays” in goods movement and triggering heavy demurrage, detention charges, missed vessels and production shutdowns due to the non-availability of raw materials.
Arshad warned the disruption poses “a serious risk of order cancelation of export orders by international buyers, which would have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan’s foreign exchange earnings.”
Meanwhile in Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi, KCCI President Rehan Hanif issued an even stronger warning, saying the nationwide strike threatens to paralyze Pakistan’s economic lifeline.
“The complete suspension of cargo movement is pushing Pakistan toward an unprecedented trade and industrial crisis,” Hanif said in a statement.
He added that import and export consignments are now stranded at the city’s ports, highways and industrial zones.
