Woes over acute shortage of Indian wheat flour in Bahrain

TDT | Manama                    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com  

Staff Reporter

South Asian expatriates living in Bahrain will have to cut down on their favourite delicacies like Indian roti, paratha and sheera as Indian wheat flour has gone out of shelves across all supermarkets and hypermarkets in the Kingdom. 

This follows the decision by the Indian government to ban the export of wheat flour last June after a heatwave destroyed the country’s crops in its northern parts.  The decision was taken by the Indian government for the sake of maintaining the country’s domestic food security as the nation is a heavy wheat consumer, requiring almost what it produces.  Speaking to The Daily Tribune, an industry representative said, on grounds of anonymity.

“Although the export ban kicked off a few months ago, its gravity is now being felt in the Kingdom. This is because all the wholesalers including my firm had excess stocks to mitigate the shortage of supply. 

“Now all those stocks have exhausted, leading to an acute supply shortage. I think the situation will remain addressed for the next few months.”  He said earlier that food companies within the Indian Special Economic Zones were allowed to import wheat flour despite the ban.

“Now even that is not possible. The Prime Minister’s Office is directly monitoring the situation, as far as I could learn, and the ban is expected to continue.”  Homemaker Vidhu Vinod Kumar said the situation is terrible.

“I have been on the hunt across supermarkets in Manama to buy Indian wheat flour of my specific brand. The efforts were all in vain. I think the Indian government should consider lifting the ban to nations, which are highly reliant on supplies from India.”  “I will have to discuss a new food chart with my family members for the coming days if this supply shortage persists,” she added.