LAHORE: The district administration on Monday deputed revenue department staff at flour mills to monitor flour supply to distribution centres in the city.

Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali said patwaris and tehsildars were tasked with monitoring supply of flour from the mills. The patwaris and tehsildars would submit daily reports to the DC office.

He said the officials would monitor the supply of flour to distribution points. The staff was appointed in 38 flour mills of Raiwind, eight in Model Town and three in Cantonment tehsils.

The field staff would collect the details by filling a proforma and they would also submit details of every vehicle and its driver to the DC office on a daily basis.

The DC said the staff would also be deputed in Shalimar and City tehsils soon. A list of different officials and their assigned duty areas was also shared.

They will monitor supply to sale points; patwaris, tehsildars to submit reports to DC office daily

Later, the DC also reviewed the situation of the flour supply in the city and reprimanded the revenue department officials for being absent from their duty points.

He also sought explanation from assistant commissioners of the respective areas and directed them to submit the last five-day report to his office. He also directed the assistant commissioners to visit the flour distribution points and check the flour quota of every mill and weight of the bag.

Last week, the district government had set up 101 checkpoints across the city to ensure that the public and shops have adequate flour supply.

On a daily basis, up to 343,140 bags of 10 kg are delivered to various parts of the city. The DC also directed the district food controller and civil defence personnel to be present at important locations.

Earlier, the prices of flour reached an all-time high in several cities as the flour crisis worsens.

The prices of flour touched record highs, selling at Rs150 per kg in Lahore, Sukkur, and Peshawar due to ‘shortage’ of wheat in Punjab.

Owing to the suspension of wheat supply from Punjab, the price of a 20 kg bag of flour in Peshawar has increased to Rs3,000. Despite the wheat price fixed at Rs3,000 per maund, the Punjab government supplied the staple to flour mills at Rs2,200 per 40 kilo.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2023