LAHORE, July 18: The Punjab government is set to launch a crackdown on wheat hoarders from Saturday (today) and hopes to recover over 600,000 tons of the product lying in private godowns all over the province.

The government has already formed vigilance teams which have reached the area of their operation. Officials of the food department, the district administration and the police will form the raiding teams.

According to department officials, these hoarders have stocked around 900,000 ton wheat and the raiding teams hope to recover more than 600,000 ton even after leaving minor stocks for personal use, daily trading and other contingencies.

The department will be able to see the coming month (August) through without releasing wheat from official stocks even if manages to recover 600,000 ton. With the arrival of imported wheat (first ship was docked at Karachi port on July 15 and the wheat started trickling in after the quarantine check on Friday), the officials said, the supply situation should improve to a great extent.

“If the entire imported wheat (2.5 million ton) arrives before December and the department gets its share of 33 per cent (just over 800,000 tons), it should be able to see the season through without much trouble,” said an official of the department. However, if there were some supply or procedural problems, he said, the department and the people would be in for problem.

With the arrival of the import share, the Punjab’s stocks would swell to 3.4 million tons which might not help the food department flood market, but would certainly be able to ensure smooth supplies. That’s precisely the reason it was delaying release to keep enough wheat to see off December, January and February smoothly, the official said.

He said the department hoped to get over 600,000 ton wheat and ease market for the next 40 days, when it could jump in with healthy stocks at its disposal. It could have taken the other route of flooding market, but that was a risky venture because the hoarders had huge holding capacity and could sustain their stock, he said while explaining the department’s preference to go the ‘administrative way’.

During the crackdown, the department would be depending heavily on intelligence to raid private godowns, cinema halls that were converted into storages and rice mills, another official said. He said the domestic stocks would be spared during the drive. The department, he said, had already booked a few hoarders and its officials charged with connivance. During the drive, the official said, the department might also allow the millers to have more stocks than what they are allowed to have now. “The drive, in any way, is not aimed at disturbing the wheat market. If the department feels at any stage of crackdown that it is not getting the desired results and the market is under pressure, it can immediately start release from its own stock to stabilise the market.”

Meanwhile, the Friday’s meeting between the millers and the food secretary ended without any results against the former’s expectations.

“The department only made it clear to the millers that the situation will be reviewed on July 29, as already agreed between the parties,” Food Secretary Iftikhar Ahmad Rao told Dawn. He said there was no chance of mid-way review as desired by the millers.

“We will sit down by the end of month and review the situation,” he said, “and by that time results of crackdown would also be clear and the department would be able to assess the situation.”