No sehri, iftari at Food Street this year

[LahoreEstate]

* Govt’s decision to remove chairs, gates, decorations empties food street of customers
* Shop owner says local group had the street shut down because it was established by the PML-Q
* TMO says food street is open for business again

LAHORE: The city’s residents will be deprived of having sehri or iftari at the Gowalmandi Food Street during Ramzan for the first time since the tourist attraction opened its doors in 2000, following the government’s decision to remove the chairs, gates and decorations from the popular eating spot.

With the removal of the gates and barriers, the street was quickly taken over by vehicles and can barely be distinguished from any other street of the Walled City. The brightly painted buildings that attracted thousands from across the world are also looking run down and appear to be one of the thousands of dilapidated buildings present in the city. Traffic jams have also become a common occurrence on the road due to the large ditches dug by the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) when they removed the gates.

One of the shopkeepers, Abdul Basit, told Daily Times he had been living in the United States for more than a decade and had come back to take over the family business due to the global popularity of the food street. He said the street was never completely empty, even during the month of Ramzan, as a large number of people would come to it during the sehar and iftar timings. “I have received several desi and foreign friends at the street. They were all mesmerised to see the presentation and quality of desi food in Gowalmandi and encouraged other people to visit Pakistan just to see the food street,” he added.

Basit alleged that the famous site had become the victim of a local group that had endeavoured to destroy it because the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) had established it.

Selfish interests: Another shopkeeper, Muhammad Naeem, said he sold nihari, haleem and other local food at the street and used to receive hundreds of people during Ramzan. “We even saw people staying at four-star hotels on and around The Mall visiting the food street to enjoy desi food and Lahori culture. It’s a sorry state of affairs that we have lost this attraction due to personal rivalries,” he added. He alleged that the pressure on the shop owners was evident from the banners against the food street that had been displayed by the group supporting the PML-Nawaz. “It’s an absurd thing to find banners stating that the residents hail the Punjab chief minister for getting rid of the ‘nine-year-old menace’ of Food Street. Which shopkeeper would display banners against their own business on their own shops,” he said, adding that around a dozen people with firearms had come and tied these banners on the shops after warning the shop owners of dire consequences for removing them. He said the government’s announcement to reopen the food street was just a political stunt to silence the masses, who had demanded the venue be restored.

Not closed: Data Ganjbakhsh Town Municipal Officer (TMO) Javed Rasheed Chohan said the government had already completed the restoration and sewerage pipes installation work in the street and the shopkeepers were now free to run their business. He said he could not install new gates on both sides of the street because he was not instructed to do so. He denied any political linkage in the issue, adding he could not allow the shopkeepers to put their tables and chairs on the street if his superiors did not permit him to do so. afnan khan

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg13_6