Journalism of Courage
CITY’S FIRST night food street is likely to be operational during the day as well. With the officers giving the go-ahead on the feasibility of running the food street round the clock, the proposal will now be placed before the Finance and Contract Committee to modify the terms and conditions as per the new plan.
Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta said that as the contract of running the kiosks was ending on December 31, new terms would be finalised after the matter was decided by the F&CC. “As per the new plan, the committee will decide whether the contract to run the kiosks for 24 hours has to be given after auctioning or draw of lots,” he said.
The F&CC meeting was scheduled for Monday but as Municipal Commissioner Bhawna Garg was away to New Delhi, the meeting was postponed till Wednesday. “It was decided that the kiosks be run 24X7. A new policy regarding the allotment of kiosks be framed,” stated the agenda.
The issue of night food street has been debated in the Punjab and Haryana High Court as well. After the intervention of the HC, various facilities including maintenance of hygiene, arrangements for lights, CCTV cameras, toilets, security and other facilities were provided there. The engineering wing of the Municipal Corporation gave a facelift by creating more sheds and providing a water tank so that water could be made available there for 24 hours.
Mayor Poonam Sharma said that the idea of running the food street for 24 hours was that not just during the night but patients from PGIMER and students from Panjab University should get food during the day as well.
She added that during the night hours, the food street became just a hub of bad elements for consuming liquor.
