NFRCC says country is having sufficient food stocks

ISLAMABAD: The National Flood Response and Coordination Centre (NFRCC) has said that there is no shortage of food items as the country has got a huge stock of wheat enough for next six months along with the strategic reserve which is sufficient till next harvesting season.
According to the NFRCC, the government has got more than 2 million tons of strategic reserve. It said an import of additional stock of 1.8 million tons is in progress out of which 0.6 million tons have reached. However, 46,000 tons of wheat from public sector is releasing on daily basis.
It revealed that the bumper crops of tomato harvested last year is sufficient to fulfil the demand. A total of 7.5 million tons of potato were harvested, however, total requirement is 4.2 million tons for the country.
Import of both onion and potato is in progress from Iran and Afghanistan. In this regard, the government has directed to wave off all duties i.e. 27%, however, the release/distribution of items is ensured same day at the earliest.
Total requirement of onion and tomato in country is 1.5 lakh tons and 50,000, respectively. However, more than 55,000 tons of tomato and 6,000 tons of onion have reached, excluding the available domestic stock.
The requirement of Masoor and Mash lentils is 1.5 lakh tons (main pulses), import of which is in progress from Canada, Australia and Myanmar. However, Moung was already in surplus and there is no shortage of it. The most usable pulse in country is Chana (chickpeas) the demand for which is 7.8-8 lakh tons per anum out of which 35% growth is from domestic means. However, 65% import is being carried out from Australia which is fulfilling the country’s requirement.
The requirement of rice can be fulfilled easily through available stock till December and its next harvesting season will start in Oct. Pakistan is producing 9.7 million tons, however total consumption is 3.8 million tons.
In nutshell, country is having sufficient stock of food and sustenance items and measures have been taken to further enhance its capacity.
During the last 24 hours, weather remained hot and dry in most parts of the country.
However, isolated rain/thunderstorm occurred in Northeast Punjab and Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Today’s highest maximum temperature recorded in Sibbi, Nokkundi,Bhakkar, Joharabad and Nurpur Thal was 40 degree Celcius.
In the next 24 hours, mainly hot and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country.
During last 24 hours, no infrastructure damage was reported. A total of 12.793 Km roads and 387 Bridges have been damaged.
Worst affected districts of Sindh include Qambar Shahdad Kot, Jacobabad, Larkana, Khairpur, Dadu, Noshero Feroz, Thatta and Badin.
In Balochistan, districts include Quetta, Naseerabad, Jafarabad, Jhalmagsi, Bolan, Sohbatpur and Lesbela.
In KP, the most affected districts include Dir, Swat, Charsadda, Kohistan, Tank and DI Khan and in Punjab, they include DG Khan and Rajanpur.
So far, 614 Army Aviation helicopters sorties have been flown to various areas for evacuation of stranded people. In last 24 hours, 10 sorties have been flown and delivered 14.7 tons of relief items to the flood affectees. Moreover, until now 4,659 stranded Individuals have been evacuated through helicopter sorties.
So far, 147 relief camps and 235 relief collection points in Sindh, South Punjab & Balochistan have been established across the country for flood affectees.
Until now 9991.0 tons of food items along with 1716.6 tons of sustenance items and 9,918,234 medicine items have been collected so far. However, 9849.3 tons of food, 1684.6 tons of sustenance items, and 9,673,054 medicine items have been distributed up till now.
More than 300 medical camps established so far in which more than 561,748 patients have been treated all across the country and provided 3-5 days’ free medicine.
Pakistan Navy (PN) established four Flood Relief centers and 18 Central Collection Points all across the country. These collection centers have distributed 1697 tons ration, 6,202 tents and 723,023 liter mineral water in various districts.
In addition, 19 tent cities have also been established where 23,837 people have been accommodated. Moreover, PN’s 23 Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) deployed all over Pakistan have rescued 15,515 stranded personnel. These ERTs are equipped with 54 motorized boats and two hovercraft.
The PN has also deployed two helicopters in interior Sindh. Uptill now, in 66 sorties, these helicopters rescued 478 stranded people and distributed 5058 packets of ration. Eight Diving Teams of Pak Navy have also carried out 27 Diving Operations in affected areas across the Pakistan.
The PN has also established 77 Medical Camps in which 85,492 patients have been treated till to date.
Pakistan Air Force has provided 6,385 tents, 500,561 food packages, 3351.80 tons of ration, 280,913 liter fresh water, for the flood affectees. Moreover, the PAF has established 46 Medical Camps where 67,182 patients have been treated so far.
Twenty tent cities accommodating 19,807 people and 54 relief camps have also been established. The PAF also carried out 260 sorties and evacuated 1,521 people from the flood-affected areas. -NNI