If you want to buy naan or roti in Quetta, be prepared to shell out twenty to thirty rupees as flour shortages get worse.

Flour prices have gone up across Pakistan, but arguably it is the highest in Quetta at Rs2,700 for a 20kg bag.

Badruddin Kakar, the chairman of the flour mills association, said access to Balochistan’s main wheat belt such as Sohbatpur is cut off because of the floods. “Internal roads are not open. Bolan road, the main supply line, is open but only for small vehicles, not big ones,” he said while speaking on Aaj News during the 3pm bulletin.

“There is also panic buying because rates have gone up across Pakistan. Sindh isn’t supplying any wheat because of the floods.” To give you a sense of the shortage, Balochistan’s government has 290,000 100kg bags of wheat in stock, but the province needs 1.5m bags a month.

Similarly, flour has gone up by Rs150 for a 20kg bag in Peshawar to hit Rs2,100. KP MPA Inayatullah Khan said that when Punjab stops supplies to KP it is illegal. For their part, government representatives said they were doing what they could. “We are in touch with the Punjab,” said Mohammad Ali Saif, a special advisor. “And we are doing our own buying.”

It is not much better in Lahore, where naan and roti have gone up to Rs20 and Rs25. “This means that breakfast for a poor man is Rs120,” said one customer. The tandoor owners predicted that naan will go up to Rs30. “If flour was Rs7500 and has gone up to Rs8,500,” said one tandoor owner, “how can we price it at Rs20?” If bulk flour bags are Rs10,000 then naan will be Rs30, they said.