Flour crisis looming as Punjab halts wheat supply.

Byline: Ali Hazrat Bacha

PESHAWAR -- There are fears that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be hit by a flour crisis in the days ahead as the Punjab government has prohibited the movement of wheat and flour out of the province causing a sudden increase in price in Peshawar.

During a visit to the retail market on Friday, this correspondent observed that the price of a 20kg flour bag had gone up by Rs80, 20kg mixed flour bag's by Rs40 and 80kg bag's by Rs400-Rs600.

Pakistan Flour Mills Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chairman Haji Mohammad Iqbal told Dawn that the Punjab government had suspended wheat supply without citing any reason.

He said the PTI ruled both the centre and KP but even then, flour crisis was looming in the province.

'We met the food department's officials and demanded an increase in wheat quota for local mills from 2,000 metric tons to 5,000 metric tons on a daily basis but the government is not ready to do so,' he said.

Mr Iqbal said the province's around 50 per cent flour mills had closed down due to the indifference of the government to their problems.

Peshawar witnesses sudden increase in flour price

He said KP procured 95 per cent of the required flour from Punjab, so the suspension of supply would create a serious flour crisis in the province.

The PFMA chairman feared that the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl's march on Islamabad and the two-day trader strike would aggravate the situation.

He said fine atta,maida and semolina were frequently transported to Afghanistan and thus, worsening shortage in the province.

'We took up these issues with the provincial...

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