Wheat crisis looms large in twin cities

Flour mills go out of stock after Punjab govt restricts movement of wheat

RAWALPINDI:

The twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are facing an imminent wheat flour crisis as of the 140 flour mills, 135 mills have been closed due to a shortage of stock while the remaining five mills will be closed on Saturday.

After the closure of mills, supply to the twin cities will completely be suspended from Sunday, which could lead to a severe shortage of flour.

The reduction in quota of flour mills and the abolition of flour subsidy had already created a flour crisis in the Rawalpindi district.

Meanwhile, mill owners of the twin cities have called an emergency meeting on Saturday (today) to discuss the situation as Flour Mills’ Association Central Chairman Asim Raza Ahmed will also join the meeting.

Mill owners said that Rawalpindi and Islamabad were likely to face severe flour shortages due to unnecessary strictness shown by the provincial food department in wheat procurement.

Since Rawalpindi is not a wheat-producing region, flour mills established here meet the flour needs of the people by procuring wheat from Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Bahawalpur and Sargodha.

The provincial government has banned the movement of wheat from other districts, rendering owners to close down mills.

Due to the closure, thousands of workers and labourers working in these flour mills also risk losing jobs.

Flour Mills’ Association representatives Riazullah Khan, Former Vice Chairman Raza Ahmed Shah, Tariq Farooq Sethi and Khuwaja Imran said that according to the government’s claim, the wheat crop is bumper in Punjab this year and it was expected that the government will complete its procurement within days but unnecessary restrictions have created the crisis and scarcity of wheat flour.

They said that the flour price will further go up if the government failed to intervene and ensure the supply of wheat to mills.

They said that despite the exceptional production of wheat, the official wheat procurement campaign was dead slow and producers were refusing to give wheat to the government.

They said that the Punjab food department was contacted several times about the seriousness of the issue but they have gotten no positive response yet.

According to flour mills’ representatives, wheat is cheaper in the world market than in Pakistan but the government was not allowing private Pakistani businessmen to import wheat but prefers import at the government level.

They said that if the private sector was allowed to import wheat, flour will be available in Pakistan at Rs95 per kg.

They said that they were getting wheat at Rs5,400 per maund in the open market.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2023.