KARACHI: The flour crisis on Monday intensified in Karachi following a dispute between the flour mills association and the Sindh food department as Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) is anticipating acute shortage of flour solely in Karachi over the next couple of days after the city’s millers were denied wheat supplies despite the grain being available in excessive quantity nationwide.
The Chairman of the flour mills association said that 70 per cent of Karachi’s flour mills run out of wheat and no one from the Sindh government has contacted them.
He blamed Sindh government for the brewing flour crisis as it prevented millers from buying the grain from growers in upper Sindh. “This is the peak production season for the new staple crop of wheat in Sindh but Karachi mills have no grain to grind.” Besides, he said, the government backed off its commitment made in mid-March that it would provide 5 million bags of wheat and supplied only 525,000 bags (10.5%). “Wheat shortage is being observed only in Karachi.”
He added that by Tuesday, almost all flour mills would run out of wheat, and if there is no wheat available tomorrow, all the flour mills in the city will be shut down until the new shipment arrives.
Moreover, the head of the Sindh Food Department said that due to the shortage of wheat, a crisis of flour has been witnessed in Karachi.
Meanwile, the Sindh Government has accused flour mills association of blackmailing regarding the wheat crisis in the province.
According to the department of food, from April 15, 4 lakhs of wheat were supplied to Karachi flour mills.
“The government is providing 10500 wheat bags to flour mills in Karachi,” Food Dept said. “We are taking steps to stop wheat smuggling.”
It is worth mention that the Sindh government had set a target to purchase 1.4 million tons of wheat, but despite the purchase since March, the target has not been met yet.
On the other hand, the Punjab government already completed the purchase of 40 per cent of the wheat.
The food department also revealed that the price of flour in Karachi can go up to Rs200 per kg. Only 10 per cent of the city’s flour supply can be maintained, while all flour mills are closed due to the unavailability of wheat to the millers.
