GILGIT, May 20: The acute flour shortage in all the five districts of the Northern Areas has become more alarming as the prices of the flour and other essential edibles were soaring day by day, traders and consumers have said.

They said the current wheat and flour shortage in the region had pushed a large number of consumers to the wall because of the inflation and soaring prices. They said the regretful aspect of the problem was that the local administration had not yet taken any serious step to resolve the crisis and failed to nab the hoarders and black marketers in the region.

They said that according to the flour mills, the government was not supplying a fixed wheat quota to the mill owners. They demanded to a smooth and uninterrupted supply of wheat to the flour mills and hoarders should be restrained from black marketing the flour and wheat.

"The black marketing and soaring prices of wheat and flour have caused scuffles, quarrels and riots in some areas," they said. They added the existing wheat quota allocated for the Northern Areas is 70 metric tons which is insufficient for more than 2 million people of the region as the region is deficient in wheat production.

They demanded that the wheat quota be increased by 50 per cent and the Karakoram Highway (KKH) should be maintained to ensure smooth supply of the wheat to Gilgit.