CMC plans to set up street food park on Baliyatra ground

CUTTACK: Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) plans to set up a park selling hygienic street food.
The civic body has decided to set up the exclusive food park on Baliyatra ground, adjacent to the Mahanadi river bed, where food lovers can enjoy delicious and mouth-watering delicacies of the Millennium City such as dahibara, aludum and gupchup without being worried about falling ill.
The infrastructure of the street food park will be set up at a cost of Rs 10 lakh.Besides lighting arrangements, the CMC will ensure supply of safe drinking water to the park and some beautification work of the area.
Toilet facilities and a garbage disposal system will also be put in place. The civic body officials said licences would be issued to the street food vendors to do business in the park and food inspectors will regularly monitor the quality of food.
“We will start work on the street food park project within a month. The ground is used only during Baliyatra so we can easily accommodate the street food hawkers on it by creating the necessary infrastructure,” said Gyana Ranjan Das, CMC commissioner.
Das said the food park would be made to look attractive to ensure footfall of food lovers and tourists. “Ensuring hygiene and cleanliness at the food park will be our priority,” said a senior CMC officer.
At present, many dahibara, aludum and junk food vendors conduct business in front of the Barabati Stadium, which leads to serious traffic congestion on the stretch.
The street food hawkers from that area will be shifted to the proposed food park on a priority basis.
“Besides decongesting traffic, the food park will also provide better business opportunities to the street food sellers,” said the official.
The food and sanitary inspectors of CMC will also hold training programmes to educate the food vendors on maintaining hygiene while preparing, storing and serving the food.
CMC officials said the food park will be set up on Baliyatra ground on a pilot basis and if the project is successful, the model will be replicated in other parts of the city.