SUKKUR: An unspecified number of wheat bags, believed to be in thousands, are feared to have been destroyed by flooding caused by heavy rains in Tangwani town of Kandkhkot-Kashmore district, official sources revealed on Monday.

They said that over 30,000 wheat bags had been stocked in the silos of food department in the town for onward delivery to flour mills weeks before it had started raining in the area.

There has been no official word on why the stocks were not timely delivered to mills or traders.

Food inspector Abdul Majeed Bhayo, when contacted, claimed that the officials concerned of the department had repeatedly been written for the lifting of the stocks but without any response.

He said rainwater had now made its way into the solos and might have destroyed several thousand wheat bags worth millions of rupees. He attributed the feared losses to the failure of the officials concerned in shifting the stocks to their buyers or would-be buyers on time.

He said the stocks had been kept in the silos owing to the delayed procurement of wheat crop.

Mr Bhayo said that an exact number of damaged wheat bags could not be ascertained as those lying in the bottom of the piles had been submerged in rainwater and could be counted only when many thousand other bags were removed from above them.