Food street for centuries-old bazaar approved

Work on project costing Rs60 million will be completed in three months

RAWALPINDI:

The project concept (PC-1) of establishing a food and a walking street from historic Bhabra Bazaar to Raja Bazaar has been approved.

The project will cost Rs60 million and will be completed in three months. Work on the project will start in the last week of March.

The winding of lanes of almost 300-year-old bazaars of the old city area to pedestrian-only heritage trail had already been approved.

Under the project, the 2.5 kilometres long stretch of lanes and streets from historic Bhabra Bazaar to Raja Bazaar passing through Sarafa Bazaar, Dangi Khoi, Kalan Bazaar will be converted into a proper walking street.

Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq and Rawalpindi Development Authority Chairman Tariq Murtaza visited Bhabra Bazaar with a technical team to get input on the project.

The Bhabra Bazaar is almost 300 years old and Hindus and Sikhs lived here before partition. The bazaar has the oldest buildings.

Read: ‘Ramazan Sasta Bazaars’ approved for Rawalpindi

Named after the rich Bhabra community that owned the almost two square kilometre patch of the town it still has a number of old buildings intact which speak of the regal past of the area. The gated community secured from four entrance and exit points has many small lanes that open onto the main bazaar

Under the project, all electricity and telephone poles will be removed from the route and wiring would be laid underground.

The removal of street lights is also part of the project and instead, the lights will be fixed on the walls of the buildings.

The installation of tiles on the walkway would be done from Teli Mohalla Murree Road to Dangi Khoi and Sarafa Bazaar Chowk.

The entry of motorcycles and vehicles will be banned and only pedestrians will be allowed to walk in.

There will be electric vehicles at the entry and exit of the street for the elderly, women, and children. RDA officials said that digitized advertisement boards would be installed along the street as well. Special benches will be installed for families in the food street and areas will be allocated for local and tourist women.

There will be regular arrival and departure timings for cars and motorbikes of area residents. Public transport, taxis, rickshaws, Chung Chi etc will not be allowed to enter the market.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2022.