The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday decided to close runway of the Nawabshah Airport amid the presence of locusts in the area.

“The runway of the Nawabshah Airport will remain closed for the landing of the flights,” the NOTAM released by the CAA reads.

The decision has been taken to avoid incidents as huge numbers of locusts are present in Nawabshah and its adjoining areas.

The CAA has informed Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other airlines in this regard.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 62 districts of the country have been affected by the locusts.

Earlier, on May 20, a spokesman of the NDMA had said in a statement that both aerial and ground spray of various districts was being conducted.

Sharing the details of the spray, he had said the spraying of 5,100 hectares of Balochistan, 1,900 of Punjab, 700 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 531 hectares of Sindh have been completed in the last 24 hours.

NDMA has also completed the survey of 125,000-hectare areas of Balochistan, 87,000 hectares area of Punjab, 65,000 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 83,000-hectare area of Sindh in last 24 hours.