CHITRAL: The local residents have resented the non-availability of subsidised wheat flour in the bazaars as the local flour mills has stopped releasing the commodity over price issue.

The consumers said they were getting the wheat flour ground by the local mills at Rs2,200 per 40 kilogramme bag, but were now forced to purchase flour brought from other parts of the country at Rs2,600 per 40kg bag.

Bashir Hussain Azad, a resident of Zargarandeh village, said that the local mills had stopped releasing the flour to the market for last two weeks, demanding a hike in the price.

He said the district administration had neither accepted the demand of the mill owner nor turned it down, with the result that the supply had been halted to the market.

When contacted, district food controller, Lower Chitral, Arshad Hussain said the mill owner was right in his demand for raise in the flour price.

He said the local mills could not be treated like the mills in other parts of country where only 60 per cent of fine quality flour was extracted from wheat, while in Chitral the ratio was 80 per cent, thus making the commodity costlier in the district.

The food controller said after rationalisation of the price based on the local conditions, he had sent his recommendations to the assistant commissioner for onward submission to the deputy commissioner for final notification.

Lower Chitral deputy commissioner Hasan Abid told Dawn that fixing price of flour was beyond his authority, and he could only implement the prices fixed by the food department.

He said he could cancel the licence of the mills if its owner did not accept the price fixed by the food department.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2021