ISLAMABAD: The city managers are yet to develop Capital Street Islamabad, which was planned a couple of years ago and for which the CDA had auctioned 18 plots.

The civic agency was supposed to develop the food street `on the pattern of JBR Dubai, City Walk Dubai and Nizami Street Baku on 27 acres near Shakarparian adjacent to the Pak-China Friendship Centre.

The CDA had also auctioned 18 out of the 20 plots for Rs3.82 billion at an auc-tion held in July 2023. Sources said because of the lukewarm response from the CDA, many successful bidders also did not deposit full payments in the stipulated time of one year.

The plots were designated for cafes, restaurants, bistros and eateries etc.

`I bought a plot in the auction as CDA had announced before that it would construct the food street within a year. So far, however, no further progress has been made on the project,` said the owner of a food chain, who had purchased a plot.

In Islamabad, there is only one food street namely Melody Food Park, which is less visited because of parking issues.

Currently, the government of Azerbaijan from its own funding has been carrying out a beautification and repair/maintenance work on the entire Melody, including the food park.

Therefore, it is expected that after completion of the work, the food park may attract customers once again. The food street was set up during KamranLashari`s tenure as the CDA chairman.

In the initial few days, it was the most visited place. But gradually it lost attraction because of parking issues and low quality food.

Currently, a number of food outlets in the park are lying closed.

`There is a need for a new food street in Islamabad and the idea of setting Capital Street in a wide area with adequate parking space is very good. But after holding auction of plots, it seems CDA has lost its interest in this project, said anotherplot allottee.

However, in a related development, the CDA recently decided to transform sections of Blue Area and Jinnah Super Market into car-free zones, turning them into pedestrian-only streets and setting up food outlets.

CDA is planning to convert a portion of Blue Area into a car-free zone from the new parking plaza near Savour Foods to the area near Khyber Plaza (G-7 and F-7 portion of Blue Area). The civic body has said it would also start an electric cartservice for the public to enable them to travel in and out of the designated area.

`Besides the pedestrian street, the CDA should also focus on stalled Capital Food Street,` an official of the civic agency said.

When contacted, CDA spokesperson Shahid Kiani said: `In accordance with the directions of the Chairman CDA, the Planning Wing has prepared a revised layout plan for the Art and Craft Village including the Capital Food Street.` He said that the revised layout plan for Art and Craft Village will have new features including a diverse range of facilities such as restaurants, art and craft workshops, an expo hall, tourism and craft stalls, an amphitheater and various recreationalactivities.

`The chairman has instructed the concerned wings of CDA to expedite the process after completion of due process of law to ensure swift development on the project in order to have different facilities, including a food street, at one place,` he said.