Flour distribution sparks stampede

The distribution of free wheat flour remains far from orderly across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) despite the assignment of each district to a secretary as on Sunday dozens of people were injured as a result of a stampede during the distribution in Mardan district.

Local residents told The Express Tribune that the distribution of flour started in the morning in Mardan Sports Complex but soon the slow pace of distribution resulted in a stampede when police used baton to keep people in proper order.

“Dozen have been injured during the stampede when the authorities and police failed to control the crowd,” said a local resident, adding that the stampede started when police fired shots in the air to control the mob which surrounded the flour trucks.

As a result local residents blocked the main Nowshera-Mardan Road to protest the police high-handedness. They also attacked the main gate of the sports complex with stones.

On the other hand in Tank district of K-P, dozens of women staged a protest against what they called clear-cut favouritism on the part of district administration in the flour distribution.

Five people have been killed in the province in similar incidents since the start of Ramazn across K-P.

One person was killed and eight others were injured during a stampede for free flour in Charsadda on the first day of the holy month of Ramazan.

The prices of basic food items have rocketed in recent months, with inflation at a near 50-year high as the country grapples with a balance of payments crisis that has seen it forced back into negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

“Nine people were trampled and were taken to hospital where one person died,” said Muhammad Arif, police chief for Charsadda.

Arif said that hundreds of people gathered at the local market for the handouts, one of hundreds of distribution points set up by the government during Ramazan.

Millions of low-income families across the country are registered under the scheme.

In a nearby district, a man died and four others were injured when a wall they were sitting on collapsed as crowds amassed for free flour.

The provincial government has assigned monitoring tasks of free flour distribution to all administrative secretaries and directed them to ensure the availability of food items on the notified public rates.

On the directives of caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan the administrative secretaries will monitor rates and availability of flour and other edibles in local markets generally, during the holy month of Ramazan in their respective districts, said a notification issued here on Saturday.

The secretary of food department will monitor Peshawar, secretary C&W Mardan, secretary excise and taxation Kohat and Karak, secretary irrigation Nowshera and Charsadda, secretary auqaf Khyber and Mohmand.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2023.