Flour shortage hits Balochistan

Snapped road link with Sindh, Punjab exacerbates crisis

QUETTA:

A massive flour crisis has gripped Balochistan of late, adding to the people’s woes already reeling from the devastation wrought by flash floods, cut-off roads, and gas and power supply disruption.

The prices of flour have skyrocketed in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan.

“Now a 20-kilo bag of flour is sold at Rs2,500 which was previously available at Rs1,600 in the province,” President of Flour Dealers Association, Syed Khudaidad Agha told The Express Tribune.

Flour has not been available in most flour shops located in the heart of Quetta city.

“Mills are not working at their full capacity so we don’t get it in sufficient enough quantity,” Agha said.

Major reason behind the flour crisis and skyrocketing prices is the suspension of traffic between Balochistan and the rest of the country.

“Balochistan cabinet has approved the purchase of flour from Punjab to overcome the shortage,” Balochistan Food Secretary Ayaz Khan Mandokhail said.

The provincial cabinet okayed the procurement of 645,000 bags of wheat. However, the Punjab chief minister is yet to give approval, another official of the Balochistan food department said. He requested anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the media on the matter.

The prices of bread also doubled reaching Rs50 from the normal rate at Rs25 in the market. This has multiplied the problems of flood victims.

“If flour mills are not providing flour, what can we do?” Muhammad Naeem Khilji, President of Nanbai Association questioned rhetorically, adding that they were ready to provide cheap bread but the government had failed to ensure reasonable prices for the flour.

The Balochistan government earlier failed to purchase and store one million bags of wheat from the Naseerabad division because of the political crisis and the no-confidence motion against the former chief minister Jam Kamal Khan.

“The food department only purchased three lakh wheat bags against the set target of one million,” Mandokhail said. He said the provincial government had approached the Punjab government to provide flour to the province on emergency basis.

The disconnection of highways linking Balochistan with Sindh and Punjab provinces has been the main cause behind the flour crisis, he said.

Local residents have lashed out at the government for its failure to ensure provision of flour at reasonable prices. They demanded of the government to take steps to improve the flour availability.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2022.