Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital Peshawar has more than 2,500 naanbais selling naans which residents prefer to buy in this city. But a large number of these shops have closed in the face of deepening wheat flour crisis. (Photo: Twitter)

Pakistan is facing a unique and yet unexplained crisis. The wheat flour crisis. Cities after cities in all four provinces of Pakistan - Balochistan, Sind, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - are facing acute shortage of wheat flour. It is the most essential kitchen item.

Reports from Pakistan say that people are longing for chapattis and naans in these provinces with governments deflecting blames on each other for the crisis. They are forced to depend on rice mainly to meet their daily food requirement.

Pakistan's news outlet Dawn reported that the wheat flour crisis had been looming for the past several months but became severe on Sunday after Prime Minister Imran Khan issued orders to the provincial governments to act against rising prices and hoarding by profiteers.

BBC reported that several naanbais (shops selling naan, very popular in Pakistan) have shut their operations due to shortage of wheat flour. Various naanbai associations stepped up campaign against the regional and federal governments.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa appears to be worst affected. Its capital has more than 2,500 naanbais as residents here prefer to buy naans from these shops. Many of these shops are closed now.

In Sind, the provincial government fixed the rate for wheat flour at Rs 43 per kg. But Ary News reported that the price regulation order by the government was a failure as the government failed to enforce the order.

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf blamed the provincial governments of Punjab and Sind for the flour crisis. But these regional regimes hit back at the federal government saying the Imran Khan government did not intervene in time.

According to National Food Security (NFS) officials, the wheat flour crisis in Pakistan is likely to ease with the arrival of new wheat crop in Sindh by March 20 and in Punjab by April 15.

President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, issued a statement from London hitting out at the Imran Khan government. He said the government's incompetence had triggered the crisis.



PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari too slammed the Imran Khan government saying it has turned Pakistan from a wheat exporter into a wheat importer, to the one facing wheat flour crisis. He alleged that Pakistan is facing atta crisis because the Imran Khan government sent out 40,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan.