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LARKANA, Nov 13: The trend to purchase wheat of Punjab by the flour mills at comparatively lower rates has worried the Sindh food department about the disposal of its 1.1 million tons of stock lying at different godowns throughout the province.
The food department had sought technical assistance from SPARCO to overcome the reported attack of weevils on the wheat stocks in Karachi, the sources told Dawn here on Tuesday adding that fumigation had been carried out at the outset to save the stocks from damages.
Presently 450,000 tons of wheat are lying in the godowns of Larkana and Sukkur divisions alone.
However it was learnt that more than Rs 10 million had been spent on fumigation and purchase of medicines to stop weevils attacks as the effects of the attacks had been observed at Pipri godown.
The flour mill owners normally purchase Punjab wheat at the rate of Rs 800 to 830 per 100 kilograms while Sindh government had fixed the rate at Rs:850 per 100 kilograms and that does not attract the millers.
The food department of Sindh was particularly worried about an old stock of 500,000 tons of wheat that had been forcibly sold to Sindh last year.
The stock grew older and had been prone to weevils attack, the sources said. In order to deal with the situation, the Sindh food department had convened a meeting with the flour mills association of Sindh on Wednesday.
The representatives of the flour mills association would sit with the Sindh minister for food on Wednesday in Karachi aiming at to find out ways and means to address the situation. In normal course Sindh government puts ban on the movement of wheat during these days so as to dispose of the wheat stocks but this time no ban had been imposed.
And this had further aggravated the situation leaving bleak chances of disposing off the big stocks.
Also, the sources said, food department pays Rs six million as rent per month to Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) per month that owns the godowns.
OPERATION: Seven teams of police have been constituted with target-oriented plan to undertake the anti-dacoits operation in Larkana district. Addressing a news conference on Tuesday the SSP Larkana Ghulam Nabi Memon said that all the teams consisting of volunteers with has a complete backup in the shape of communication, arms and ammunition.
He said presently six gangs of dacoits were active in the district.
Giving the resume of police activities the SSP said that two gangs of motorcycle snatchers had been spotted and the gang leaders— Hamid Buledi and Muhammed Rafique Jagirani alias Baggan have been arrested with the recovery of three bikes from them.
He said Zulfikar Jagirani, Abdulullah alias Eido Narijo and Moor Narijo wanted in many cases of police encounters, robberies, kidnapping for ransom registered against them in Larkana and Khairpur Mirs.
He said boats required in operation had been acquired to make the operation effective the SSP said adding that soon more Armoured Personnel Carrier (APCS) would be given to these special teams.
He said 480 service rifles have been deposited in the police headquarters for urgent repair for they had developed faults.
The SSP asked the dacoits and criminals to surrender before the police and assured them that no new case would be registered against them coupled with fair trial.
Responding to a question the SSP said that the SHO of Haidri police station Abdul Rasool Bughio that had settled the matter privately with the aggrieved party regarding the alleged murder of Nirma aged 4 month, would face the departmental inquiry.
The SHO had committed criminal negligence no matter he had settled things with the party, the Senior Superintendent of Police said.
