India is battling a massive locust invasion, a heatwave touching 50 deg C (122 deg F) a Severe Cyclonic Storm and Covid-19

India is battling a massive locust invasion, a heatwave touching 50 deg C (122 deg F) a Severe Cyclonic Storm and Covid-19

...invasion by desert locusts has increased and hit large swathes of India and Pakistan who are in the middle in the middle of their battle with coronavirus pandemic. According to the FAO, large and aggressive swarms of these crop-devouring short-horned insects have invaded more than two dozen districts covering more than 50,000 hectares of desert areas of western India. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are the worst affected states. To make matters worse parts of India saw temperatures rise to 47.6C on Tuesday, as most of north India faced severe heatwave conditions. The heatwave, which officials say is likely to last until the weekend, comes even as the region struggles with rising Covid-19 infections and swarms of locusts that are ravaging crops. Churu in Rajasthan state recorded a temperature of 50 deg C (122 deg F), India's highest. To make matters worse, a powerful cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea “is very likely to intensify into a Severe Cyclonic Storm during next 6 hours,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday. The cyclone, designated Nisarga, could make landfall between on the coastal border region of Maharashtra and Gujarat states, with winds gusting up to 120 km per hour (75 miles per hour), the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane, the IMD said.