Flour bags vanish again from local market

The flour crisis still persists in the open market as the government has badly failed to overcome the shortage, shopkeepers said.

“The government must ensure flour availability in the open market instead of forcing the public to run after the flour trucks or wait for hours outside sale-points,” Shahid Mahmood, a resident of Samanabad said.

“We don’t have flour bags at the shops for sale and the customers are going back with empty hands. A great number of shopkeepers are waiting for flour supply across the City but they were not supplied even a single bag till Thursday evening,” said Rao Akram, president Lahore Kiryana Merchants Association, when contacted. He urged the government to immediately ensure flour supply to the shopkeepers.

He said that neither the flour millers nor the officials of City District Govt were supplying flour bags to the shopkeepers so far, which has further intensified the shortage.

Khalid Ahmed, a representative of Lahore Atta Dealers Association said that they were still facing severe shortage of flour. “We don’t have even a single flour bag of 20kg as a number of customers are going back with empty hands,” he added.