Food street leaves bitter taste

CHANDIGARH: Launched with much fanfare by municipal corporation after taking inspiration from Lahore, the night-food street of Chandigarh has lost its sheen as majority of families prefer not to visit the place.
Since most people going there have to wait for food, they prefer sitting inside their vehicles. They end up consuming liquor and smoking openly.Plenty of brawls and incidents of eve-teasing have also been reported from the area during night. All that has almost made the city lose. The taste for reasonably priced, hygienic food that the street was originally provided has also skyrocketed as compared to the beginning and even basic facilities are not available nearby.
Jimmy Sharma, a resident of Sector 11, said a couple of days ago he had gone to the place with his friends including some girls at around 1am and they were shocked to see a large number of men standing outside their cars and drinking openly. “Though there were a couple of policemen there, no one was stopping those men. They were staring at the girls accompanying us and passed lewd comments. We had to leave without having food.”
Adarsh Mittal from Sector 36 said, “Earlier, my wife and I used to go out with some other couples to grab a bite there after our nights out. But now, having read about the number of brawls there, we have started avoiding the place. About a month ago, a friend of mine went there with his wife and while returning, they were chased by a group of boys in a car, who tried to run them off the road. Fortunately, nothing bad happened.”
Residents also complain about the quality of food. “It was claimed initially that hygienic food at nominal prices would be served to visitors during night hours, but now, just the opposite is happening. Under such conditions, who would like to visit the place,” said Gian Chand Thakur, a resident of Sector 15.
Recently, Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken suo-motu cognizance on the high prices on the food street and issued notices to MC and Chandigarh administration, asking them to respond on the issue. While issuing notices, the chief justice had observed, “The matter needs to be examined in the form of public interest litigation (PIL).”