LAHORE, March 22: The millers and the Punjab Food Department give contradictory arguments regarding any possibility of an impending flour shortage in the country in the wake of repeated rain spells.

The millers on Thursday warned of flour shortage, saying the rains were likely to delay maturity of wheat crop in Sindh and Punjab. On the other hand, the Punjab Food Department dispelled the impression, saying it still had 575,000 tons of wheat in its stock, and there was no chance of shortage.

According to a press release issued by the millers, the lopsided wheat releases by the department had created shortages in certain districts like Rahim Yar Khan and Sialkot, and the mills were finding it hard to meet the demand there.

Pakistan Flour Mills Association (Punjab chapter) chairman Haji Maqsood Ahmad said the department released wheat in certain districts over and above the allocation of 50 bags per rolling body. The policy, he added, had emptied official stocks in Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Kasur and Lahore districts, resulting in wheat shortages there.

He said the rains had delayed wheat maturity in Sindh, which normally started supplying the commodity by mid-March.

An official, however, denied the charge, saying that sufficient stocks were still available with the department, and it would be carrying wheat over the next season after meeting current needs.

Responding to the millers’ accusations, he said the department had massive stocks in the beginning of the current season, and according to the policy it not only released maximum wheat to millers but also sold over 125,000 tons for exports. Now, he said, with stocks nearing their extermination, the department had squeezed supplies according the requirements of particular districts. The millers getting liberal supplies and selling flour outside the province now find it hard to meet external demand, he said. “This is what they are calling a shortage. Otherwise, there is no problem whatsoever,” he claimed. —Staff Reporter