FAISALABAD, July 20: Weaving units and merchants have increased the prices of grey cloth made for tents from Rs5 to Rs15 per meter because of an increase in the demand for tents after floods in Sindh and Balochistan.

Thousands of people in flood-hit areas have lost their houses and now they are in dire need of tents.

As the government and philanthropists are trying to meet this demand for tents in these areas, huge orders for tent fabric and a fabricated tent shortage have led to the price surge.

Same situation was witnessed in the yarn market when an earthquake jolted Pakistan and Azad Kashmir on October 8, 2005.

Broker Hamid Ali said that a number of people had invested in the tent business in the backdrop of floods and now they were earning handsome profits.

He suggested that the government should devise a mechanism to stop profiteers from exploiting such situations.

Grey cloth dealer Mian Nasir confirmed the surge in prices and said that several tent and grey cloth exporters were also benefiting from this situation. — Mohammad Saleem