Amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan, the Chandigarh administration has issued an urgent order prohibiting the hoarding and black marketing of essential food and fuel items, warning that such practices are creating artificial scarcity, price spikes, and threatening public order. All traders and stockists have been directed to declare their current inventory to the Department of Food and Supplies within three days.
Meanwhile, Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday appealed to citizens to beware of false messages and stay calm. “We have stocks of food items more than our requirements. Traders, wholesalers, retailers and business establishments of essential commodities have been directed to cooperate with law enforcement agencies,” he said, adding that not to believe the false propaganda which were leading people to unnecessarily rush to stock up. “Any person who hoards or hoards food for any purpose or malicious intent will be subject to the Essential Commodities Ac,” he wrote in a post on X.
The move comes after a series of escalations between the two countries earlier this week. On May 7, India launched strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in a mission dubbed Operation Sindoor. In retaliation, Pakistan’s army shelled civilian areas across the LoC, killing over 15 civilians, and launched missiles and drones into Indian territory on May 8. India’s air defence system neutralised these attacks, but the conflict has sparked widespread fear and triggered panic buying in parts of the country.
In Chandigarh, District Magistrate Nishant Kumar Yadav invoked Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, to curb hoarding of essentials such as rice, wheat, pulses, edible oils, sugar, vegetables, milk products, medicines, petrol, and diesel. “Such actions are resulting in artificial scarcity, abnormal price rise, and potential law and order issues affecting the supply and distribution of essential food commodities to the general public,” the order noted.
“No person, trader, wholesaler, retailer or business entity shall engage in the hoarding or stockpiling of essential commodities… fuel including petrol and diesel,” the order stated. It also requires all traders to declare their current stock to the administration within three days.
Citizens have been urged to report any instances of hoarding or black marketing to the Department of Food & Supplies and the Legal Metrology Department in Chandigarh.
A similar directive has been issued by the Mohali administration. In its May 8 order, the District Magistrate of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar cited reports of panic buying, hoarding, and disruption in supply chains due to the geopolitical tensions. “It has been made to appear… that due to border tensions and internal security conditions, there is an apprehension of a situation of scarcity,” the order said, calling for urgent regulation of food and fuel stocks. It warned that hoarding would lead to legal action under Section 163.
The Chandigarh order will remain in force till July 7.
The Amritsar District Administration has also implemented similar restrictions to prevent black marketing and price gouging in the border state of Punjab.