Flour mill owners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have issued a seven-day ultimatum to provincial authorities demanding an immediate halt to the forced substandard wheat supply KP food officials are allegedly distributing. Industry leaders warned on Wednesday that millers will announce a stricter course of action if the government does not stop delivering flood-damaged grain stored in official godowns.
Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar, Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chairman Muhammad Naeem Butt alleged that provincial food department warehouses had suffered substantial flood damage. Instead of discarding the ruined grain, officials have been mixing spoiled stock with sound grain before releasing it to commercial mills across the province, the PFMA claimed.
Flood-damaged grain and health risks
According to Butt, the wheat damaged by floodwaters is valued at Rs3 billion, which he called a colossal financial hit to the provincial exchequer. However, he maintained that fiscal recovery should not come at the cost of consumer safety.
He stated that grain exposed to flood moisture poses serious health hazards to consumers and cannot legally or ethically be ground into everyday flour. The association said providing safe, standardized flour remains its primary obligation and declared that mill operators will refuse to buy or process any mixed, damaged wheat supply.
Transport hurdles and price pressures
Addressing consumer concerns regarding surging flour prices across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PFMA chairman pointed to supply chain bottlenecks rather than mill-level markups. Butt explained that inter-provincial grain movement faces regular hurdles along key transport routes into KP, choking supply into local markets and driving consumer costs higher.
The association urged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to intervene directly to address the mounting KP wheat supply issue, protect food security, and ensure state storage facilities are weatherproofed against future flooding.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ke flour millers ne hukoomat ko ek hafte ka time diya hai ke kharab gandum ki supply foran roki jaye. Millers ka kehna hai ke godowns mein sailab se mutasir 3 arab rupay ki gandum ko achi gandum mein milaya ja raha hai jo sehat ke liye nuqsande hai. Unho ne aisi gandum lene se inkar kar diya hai. Agar ye masla hal na hua to aate ki supply aur qeematon par bura asar par sakta hai.
