Wheat kept in open under ‘waterproof’ covers suffers irreparable damage

Rawalpindi: The wheat bags placed under waterproof covers have been damaged due to heavy rainfall which has been continuing for some days here in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The poor public has been buying ‘Atta’ bags at high prices while on the other hand, all stores of the District Food Department are filled with wheat, and no other space to adjust thousands of wheat sacks kept in the open.

Thousands of wheat bags have been stacked outside the granaries of the District Food Department (DFD), Rawalpindi in the open, and no proper protective measures were adopted to save them from rain during monsoon. The authorities concerned are taking the issue non-seriously and using only lip service to show their performance to the Punjab government.

In fact, rainwater has seeped into wheat bags placed in the open with waterproof covers and expensive wheat has suffered damage. District Food Controller Muhammad Sufian told ‘The News’ that they properly covered wheat bags with waterproof covers. “We don’t have space to keep wheat bags in stores therefore we have placed wheat bags in the open with waterproof covers, he claimed.

The life of wheat stored inside godowns is also at stake due to the dilapidated condition of the facilities, as rainwater continuously leaks from rooftops and damages the wheat. It merits mentioning here that hundreds of wheat sacks stored in the open suffered damage during monsoon every year. The concerned department is providing this rotted wheat to millers at cheaper prices.

The millers are supplying this wheat in the form of flour to the public. People belonging to different walks of life have demanded of the Punjab government to provide them with good quality wheat and adopt measures to protect wheat bags during heavy rainfall.

On the other hand, the Punjab government is blaming flourmill owners while flourmill owners blame the Punjab government for skyrocketing rates of ‘atta’. But in reality, nobody was taking an interest to protect wheat to provide ‘atta’ to public at controlled prices. A 15-kilogram ‘Atta’ bag was selling at Rs2250 to Rs2400 here in open market shops, thanks to Punjab government and flourmill owners.