KHAPLU: Citizens in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region are complaining of a food crisis, confirmed an official on Friday, as flash floods have suspended traffic for heavy vehicles on an important road connecting the region to other parts of the country for over a month now.
The scenic 1,300-km long Karakoram Highway (KKH) connects Pakistan with China and is also one of two roads that links GB with other parts of the country. The road passes through rough and almost inaccessible areas of the country’s north, proving vital for supplies to GB from other areas of Pakistan.
Unusually heavy rains have triggered floods across many parts of the South Asian country, killing 1,508 people since June 14. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), rain-related incidents have killed 22 people in GB, damaged 56 bridges and fully damaged over 500 houses in the region since mid-June
Babusar Road also connects GB to other parts of the country. However, due to its high altitude, it is not suitable to transport heavy containers on the road and has remained suspended for traffic for over eight months due to incessant snowfall.
With heavy traffic suspended on both roads, dozens of large trucks laden with grain bags have been stuck for over a month in Kohistan city of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Traffic was suspended for heavy vehicles for the last one-and-a-half month,” Ikram Mohammad, director-general of the food department, Gilgit-Baltistan, told Arab News. “Over [a dozen] vehicles carrying wheat were stuck at Kayal Bridge [at KKH]. That’s why citizens are complaining of the food crisis.”
Mohammad said authorities had wheat reserves of almost 10 days and were trying their best to control the shortage of wheat in the region.
“We hope the situation will be better as we are trying to bring wheat from Babusar Road in light vehicles,” he said. “We have visited [Kayal] bridge and crossed it with a light truck [carrying] under 30 tonnes of wheat yesterday [Thursday].”
The food director confirmed residents of different districts in the area were complaining of food shortage.
“The [scarcity of] food supply is happening in GB for the last 1.5 months due to the flood situation and the condition of the Kayal Bridge,” he explained. “That’s why they are complaining of wheat shortage.”
According to the food department, GB receives around 1.5 million bags of wheat, as its quota annually, from the Pakistan Agriculture and Storage Corporation (PASCO) at subsidized rates.
Kohistan, where the food trucks have been standing idle for over a month, has also been affected by floods, Muhammad Saqib, additional deputy commissioner of Lower Kohistan, said.
“The pillars of the Kayal Bridge, located at KKH in Lower Kohistan, were also exposed and the riverine erosion also damaged it,” Saqib told Arab News on Thursday.
“So, on the directions of the NHA, we are not allowing heavy traffic to cross the bridge. Weights of more than 10 tonnes are strictly prohibited to cross the bridge,” he added.
Shabbir Hussain, a flour dealer in GB’s Karaming village located in Khaplu valley, said every month he used to receive 217 bags of flour. This month, Hussain told Arab News he received only 167 bags.
“So many families got deprived of flour this month,” Hussain said.
Abdul Rehman Bukhari, a Gilgit-based senior journalist, said the flour crisis was increasing day by day. “The food crisis is at its peak in the region nowadays. One reason is the recent flash floods causing disruption of heavy traffic, and the federal government has also decreased the wheat quota for Gilgit-Baltistan,” he told Arab News.
“Every member of the family member is supposed to get 7 kg of flour in GB. Now every person is getting 3 kg instead of 7 kg,” Bukhari added.
Speaking to Arab News on condition of anonymity, another flour dealer said he was distributing 30kg of flour to each family member instead of the regular 40 kg.
