Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The one and only traditional and historic food street of the twin cities ‘Kartarpura’ needs the attention of the authorities as the market hosts hundreds of people each night, but passes through narrow lanes and finding a parking space for vehicles is always a hassle.

The Kartarpura food street which is famous for taste and a traditional style has been offering several food items dating back to pre-partition days. The market is famous for its traditional Nihari for breakfast, whereas Siri Paey and Lassi hold out a choice for the visitors.

In routine, the market becomes alive at midnight, when the rest of the city goes to sleep. It offers a wide range of traditional foods to the visitors. In the holy month of Ramazan, the market becomes more colourful and crowded at Sehri timings.

A large number of citizens reach the market and enjoy traditional foods like Nihari, tikkas, chaney and lassi. A famous one food outlet at the street is the ‘Kala Khan Nihari’, which has been offering tasty Nihari from 1947 onwards.

If anybody wants to enjoy Kala Khan’s Nihari, than he should reach the spot at least two hours prior to the closing time of Sehri because due to the burden of clients it is impossible for the hotel manager to fulfil the demands of everyone.

Sagheer Ahmed, a senior worker at the shop said; “We offer fresh Nihari to our clients and that’s why we cook the Nihari for a specific number of people to avoid wastage. We entertain around one thousand customers daily, but we also sell our food in parcels for homes on a large scale.”

Located at a five-minute drive from the Asghar Mall intersection, on Benazir Bhutto Road, the food street has only drawback – narrow streets and lack of a sufficient parking place for vehicles.

But that does not deter visitors as after 11 pm in the evening, one can hardly find a place to sit in any of the restaurants that line the street. In Ramadan, the people can be seen waiting in a que to get a chance to sit inside any hotel.

The other major problem is over crowding of the market, which make impossible for families to visit the food street as a large number of youngsters are always present there to welcome them. The restaurants also don’t have enough suitable arrangements for families.

Although, the traffic police appoints its wardens for the smooth flow of traffic, it is not enough and the authorities should devise a strategy to uplift the market. The food street needs a ‘Lush Push’, decoration and renovation of the street a`s currently it is being run in an old traditional way.

A regular visitor of the market, Afzal Ahmed while talking to Daily Times said; “The Rawalpindi and Islamabad food streets only offer a good environment, but they don’t have the traditional taste, which we found here in ‘Kartarpura”.

A little effort by the government can make this street a batter public place not only for Pakistanis, but also for the international visitors to the twin cities.

The visitors while talking to Daily Times demanded that the government should make suitable arrangements for the cleanliness of the street, traffic flow, security and also make a check on hygienic conditions to make this place more fascinating for the public.