QUETTA, May 21: Gwadar and its adjoining areas have been facing acute shortage of edible items because of a ban imposed by security forces on sale and purchase of Iranian goods in the area.

Most of edible items like flour, rice, vegetables, chicken and eggs and other non-edible items come in the area from Iran as they are far cheaper and better than the local items.

After the Gwadar blast in which three Chinese engineers were killed the government has set up several checkpoints manned by Frontier Corps personnel and it has badly restricted travel to and from Gwadar and Makran coastal areas.

Because of lack of properly metalled roads, these areas are not easily accessible and edible and other goods from Sindh and Punjab cannot do not reach there or those which reach there are too expensive to be bought by the area people who are extremely poor.

"After the Gwadar bomb explosion, the government has banned all edible and non-edible goods coming from Iran," Ayub Khaatak, Provincial President of National Party and Dr Ishaq Baloch told newsmen here on Thursday.

They said the flour crisis has become very serious in Gwadar and other coastal areas and its price had increased by 120 per cent in two weeks and other food items were also not available in the market.

The leaders of National Party further said that Makran was a far-flung area of Balochistan where flour and food items could not be supplied from Punjab and Sindh due to lack of proper roads.

They said because of this the people living there bring flour and other foods items from Iran as it was close to Makran. "The flour and other food items, if brought from Punjab and Sindh, would be too expensive to be afforded by the villagers of the area.

They demanded of the government to give relaxation in flour and other food items' supply from Iran to Makran. They also suggested that the government should allow border trade with Iran and Afghanistan in border towns of Chaman, Turbat and Mand.

The National Party leaders said that federal and provincial governments should take notice of this situation and take steps for smooth supply of flour and other food items to Gwadar, Makran and other far-off places of Balochistan.