Massive locust swarms reach India.

File photo of locusts. RT/Reuters. 

The massive swarm of locusts which have already devastated Africa and the Middle East have reached India. RT.  India, which is already having trouble dealing with the fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic and the Super Cyclone Amphan, could face food shortages due to the insect invasion. The swarms fell upon Jaipur, with three million residents, and are continuing to travel. The locust outbreak is the worst in 26 years for India. 

#LocustAttack in Jaipur...
We are doomed!
Food Shortage incoming... pic.twitter.com/o6SsfBbuby

— Shivani Jain (@She_Vaani) May 25, 2020

Locust swarms in Jaipur this morning. #MondayMorning pic.twitter.com/g5PpCQtb7k

— Rakesh Goswami (@DrRakeshGoswami) May 25, 2020

My Comment:
I've already covered the locust swarm's effect on the Middle East and Africa so I won't have too much more to add here. Everything that is true in those regions is also true in India. These locusts will eat crops, cause food shortages and generally devastate the economy at a time they are already vulnerable.

 However, no disrespect intended, but I think India is the most important country hit by these locusts so far. India has a huge population, is a major economy and is a center of trade. If it gets hit by starvation and food shortages it could cause a ripple effect with the rest of the world.

I think under normal circumstances India could handle a locust invasion. It would be tough but they could deal with it. But they are also dealing with the aftermath of Super Cyclone Amphan. It did around $13 billion in damage and killed 118 people, though much of that ended up hitting Bangladesh as well.

Of course the elephant in the room is the Coronavirus. As of today India has more than 130,000 confirmed cases of the disease and more than 4000 deaths with the virus still spreading. This has already caused major damage to the economy, especially with the lockdown and will limit how well India can respond to the disease.

In short a bad situation in India has gotten much worse. The last thing they need is a bunch of locusts eating all their crops and making life miserable. Seeing the tweets about the situation on twitter and you can tell the Indian people are very concerned about what could happen...