PESHAWAR: Flour millers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday claimed that the Punjab government had banned wheat supply to their northwestern province.

They feared that if the ban continued, the price of a 20kg flour bag would go up from Rs3,000 toRs4,000.

During a joint news conference here, Pakistan Flour Mills Association KP chairman Haji Mohammad Iqbal and senior leader Mohammad Naeem Butt claimed that Punjab’s ban on wheat transportation was unconstitutional and illegal.

They said the ban, which was slapped on the pretext of checking wheat smuggling, should be lifted immediately.

Mr Iqbal said that Article 151 of the Constitution didn’t allow any restriction on the inter-provincial transportation of wheat or any other edible commodity.

They fear price of 20kg flour bag will go up from Rs3,000 to Rs4,000

He said that the Punjab government’s move was creating “hatred” among federating units.

The flour mills association’s chairman demanded intervention by authorities, including the prime minister and the Punjab and KP governments, for the lifting of the ban on wheat transportation.

He insisted that the Punjab government frequently used the smuggling pretext to ban the supply of wheat to KP and Wednesday’s restriction came over the same pretext.

Mr Iqbal said that the trucks carrying wheat, which was purchased by KP’s flour mills from private parties, had been stopped at checkposts, while cases of smuggling were being registered against them.

“This police crackdown is meant to close our [KP] flour millers down,” he said.

The association leader said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should announce a special package to save KP’s flour mills, which employed thousands of people, from destruction.

He said that Punjab produced around 80 per cent of the country’s wheat and KP depended on it to meet its wheat and flour needs.

Mr Iqbal said that the northwestern province required five million tons of wheat annually but its production totalled 0.8 million tons.

He said that though the country had good wheat production, KP had to import expensive wheat from Ukraine due to the ban on wheat transportation by Punjab.

“Wheat import costs our province [KP] billions of rupees,” he said.

The association leader said that KP produced affordable electricity more than its need, so the surplus electricity was supplied to the rest of the country but even then, the people of the province were subjected to prolonged power outrages.

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had around 260 flour mills but almost 70 per cent of them had stopped operation due to the ban of the Punjab government on wheat supply to the province.

Mr Iqbal said that the ban had threatened thousands of jobs besides costing flour mills in the province billions of rupees.

He feared that the restriction could take the price of 20kg flour bag from Rs3,000 to Rs4,000.

The leader of the flour mills association said that currently, Punjab had wheat in ample quantities and sold wheat to its residents at lower prices compared with those living in other provinces.

He said that the food department of KP had so far not begun purchasing wheat to meet its needs.

“Any further delay in wheat procurement as well as resumption of the supply of subsidised flour to the needy will spike prices in the province,” he said.

Mr Iqbal demanded the prime minister, Punjab’s chief minister and other relevant quarters to step in for the immediate abolition of checkposts and end to the ban on inter-provincial wheat transportation.

He also said flour mills of KP should be allowed to purchase wheat from private groups in Punjab.

Our correspondent from Abbottabad adds: Dealers claimed here on Wednesday that flour crisis was looming in Hazara division due to restrictions on supply of the commodity from Punjab to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They said stock of flour at their outlets was limited, which could affect supply to general public in coming days.

They expressed this concern while speaking at a meeting held in the Abbottabad’s flour market.

Representatives of different trade bodies, including Mohammad Naeem Awan, Khalid Aslam Awan and others, were in attendance.

Later, the trade leaders told the media that flour trucks were not allowed to enter KP, which was causing shortage of the commodity in the province.

They said Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi had also been informed about the matter.

Meanwhile, sources said stocks of all major dealers in Abbottabad were running out since after Ramazan, while the vehicles bringing flour from Punjab to Hazara were also stopped at different checkposts.

They said price of a 20kg flour bag had crossed Rs3,000. They said about 5,000 bags were sold daily in Abbottabad during Ramazan.

They asked the KP chief secretary to contact his counterpart in Punjab to find a solution to the issue.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2023