Rain inflicts damage on wheat bags

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

DFD Controller Muhammad Sufian told ‘The News’ that due to shortage of space in government storage facilities over 200,000 wheat bags were kept in the open. He also said that wheat sacks were properly placed under the waterproof covers and there was no fear of getting fungus. He said that they were trying to arrange some more warehouses where wheat bags could be kept under protection.

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

The millers are supplying this wheat in the form of flour to public.

The reliable sources told this scribe that district food department Rawalpindi burned wheat of poor quality to avoid action of Punjab government. The concerned authority burnt several wheat sacks at night time, the sources claimed.

This practice was continued for years but higher authorities seeing the whole drama with closed eyes, the sources said. The Met Office has predicted heavy rainfall in monsoon season means thousands of wheat sacks which were under open sky will be damaged.