QUETTA: Quetta is grappling with a severe wheat and flour shortage, pushing the price of a standard 20-kilogram bag beyond 2,500 rupees and sparking fears of a worsening crisis. Over the past ten days alone, the price of flour has skyrocketed by twenty rupees per kilogram, forcing the bag’s price up from 2,130 to 2,530 rupees, placing a heavy burden on citizens.
Local shopkeepers attribute the sudden hike to increased costs from flour mills. “We are compelled to sell at higher prices because we are purchasing flour from the mills at expensive rates,” explained one retailer.
However, flour mill owners point to a critical supply breakdown. They state that a ban on the inter-provincial supply of wheat from Punjab and Sindh—Balochistan’s primary sources—has created an acute shortage. Compounding the issue, the Balochistan Food Department’s own wheat stocks are reportedly depleted, and local farmers have raised prices in response to the scarcity.
Mill owners have issued a stark warning: unless the ban on wheat transportation from Punjab and Sindh is lifted immediately, the flour crisis will intensify dramatically. They argue that without the restoration of steady supply chains, local production and remaining stocks are insufficient to meet demand, threatening food security across the province.
The situation highlights Balochistan’s dependency on external wheat sources and has raised urgent calls for intervention from provincial and federal authorities to stabilize the market and ensure the availability of this essential commodity.
Meanwhile the Election Commission of Pakistan issues the notification to postpone the local government election in Quetta.
According to the sources, the Election Commission of Pakistan has issued a notification announcing to postpone the local government election in Quetta.
The Federal Constitution Court had issued stay-order over the conduction of the local government election in Quetta, Senator Kamran Murtaza of JUI , had put forth a petition given by a citizen Abdul Qadir to postpone the local government elections.
