Staff Reporter:
QUETTA: Flour crisis hits Quetta and other parts of Balochistan as per kilogram of flour reaches Rs.125. Skyrocketing flour prices have compounded the problems of the downtrodden class and middle classes in the province. “What this government is doing, per kg directly jumped from Rs.115 to 125”, Noor Muhammad, an aged citizen told Daily Quetta Voice.
Some shopkeepers are selling 20 kgs at Rs.2600 in Quetta city. “There is no check and balance on increasing prices”, Badruddin Kakar, the central leader of the flour mills association Balochistan lamented. He said the food department stock of wheat was finished and that rulers were least bothered about the plight of customers.
The provincial government’s plan to provide cheap flour is also failing to meet the requirement, the provincial government has announced to provide a bag of 20 kg at Rs 1470 but the government does not have enough flour. Citizens say that when some bags are sent to an area, they have to go back disappointed after standing in long queues.
Eighteen flour mills in Quetta need 25 thousand bags of wheat per day, the mills are running out of stock of wheat and flour. The mill owners have blamed the government for the crisis and said that the government bought only two and a half lakh bags of wheat from Pasco, which fell short. Flour mill owners say that the government should immediately arrange 9 to 10 lakh sacks of wheat or the flour will disappear from the market.
