LAKKI MARWAT, April 14: Flour crisis has deepened in the district as a ban imposed by the local administration to stop smuggling of the commodity from the district to tribal areas and other parts has not been implemented in letter and spirit.

Due to smuggling, price of atta (flour) has shot up and the commodity is hardly available in the bazaars and even at the Utility Stores’ outlets. “Some local dealers are reportedly involved in the practice of flour smuggling thus causing shortage of the commodity at the local level”, sources told Dawn on Monday. They said that the district administration and the law-enforcement agencies were avoiding taking any strict action against the smugglers.

Meanwhile, an official at the district administration told this correspondent that steps were being taken to control artificial dearness and curb flour smuggling from the district.

The official said that several teams had been constituted to pay surprise visits to bazaars to check prices of edibles including flour and also conduct raids on illegal stocks of the flour.

He maintained that dozens of shopkeepers and traders involved in violation of official rate list and artificial price hike had been fined on the spot by assistant coordination officer and other officials concerned during last couple of days.

The official claimed that involvement of nazims in flour distribution process would help stop smuggling and ensure availability of commodity to people without facing any difficulty.

Our Correspondent from Buner adds: The profiteers and officials of the district government have joined hands to exploit the prevailing flour crisis and loot the consumers with both hands.

The district administration officials claimed that 20 kilogramme bag of flour was available in the market at the official rates of Rs300 to 310. They said that the local flour mills were being supplied wheat at subsidized rate, which in turn supplied 5,000 flour bags of 20 kg to the open market daily.

But a survey conducted by Dawn found that the ground situation was contrary to the claims of the district administration as 20 kg bag was selling at Rs470.

The shopkeepers said that the local flour mills provided them 20 kg flour bag at higher prices than the government rates.While the flour mills owners were of the view that they were buying wheat from the open market on higher prices because the district government was not providing them sufficient quota.

The ultimate sufferers of the never ending brawl among flour mill owners, profiteers and district government officials were the poor.

Our Correspondent from Mansehra adds: NWFP Minister for Food, Shujah Salim Khan has claimed that the government will overcome the flour crisis in the next three to four days as the federal and Punjab governments have been asked to provide 4,500 tones of flour to the province. He also said that supply of 1,500 tones of flour from Punjab to the NWFP had already started.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Monday, Mr Khan said that the provincial government had also issued directives to all the district food controllers to curb the hoarding and profiteering.

He warned that the hoarders and smugglers of the flour and wheat would be dealt with iron hands.

The minister claimed that the provincial government had wheat stock for next 20 days.

Mr Khan said that the provincial government had requested the federal government to enhance the province’s subsidy amount from Rs1 billion to Rs4 billion.

He said that the fresh harvested wheat would also start coming to market within a week, which would help overcome the crisis.

Our Correspondent from Chitral adds: Chitral police continued its operation for the fourth day on Monday against the smuggling of wheat and flour to Afghanistan and arrested several persons.

A police official told Dawn here that the police stations of Chitral, Drosh and Arandu had been put on high alert and due to strict vigilance; the smugglers had ‘stopped’ their activities.

The official said that various checkposts had also been established in this regard. He said that the arrested persons were being interrogated and that their accomplices would also be rounded up very soon.

Meanwhile, the leaders of different political parties have demanded of the government to conduct an inquiry and bring to book those involved in the smuggling of flour to Afghanistan.

President of Jamaat-i-Islami, Chitral, Maulana Ghulam Mohammad and vice-president of PPP Syed Burhan Shah advocate, in their separate statements, pointed out that the district was already short of the commodity and its smuggling could create famine in the mountainous region.