The flour crisis has intensified in Karachi following a dispute between the flour mills association and the Sindh food department. 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 said that the remaining 30 per cent of flour mills have 3,000 to 4,000 bags of wheat available which is not enough to fulfil even five per cent demand of the metropolis.
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. 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.
