India might soon battle a trifecta of calamities

THE "Cyclone Man of India", Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, who is director-general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), accurately predicted the arrival of Cyclone Amphan in the Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha. These states could face a trifecta of calamities - even as they are reeling from Amphan and Covid-19, they may also have to battle with an invasion of locusts.

As Amphan wrote itself forcefully into the history of Calcutta, Covid-19 had already wreaked havoc. Now, many residents are wondering if an advancing army of locusts could be stopped at the gates of Delhi - or if they would fly east to Calcutta, feasting on crops along the way.

The current proliferation of locusts fits perfectly into the pattern of cyclones because they were born in the aftermath of Cyclone Mekunu that struck the southern Arabian desert in May 2018, which deluged the spaces between sand dunes with water that helped the locusts breed freely.