Once the go-to destination for local foodies, Melody Food Park has lost its charm over the years. Set up in 2002 in the G-6 Markaz, the park was a popular spot for years after it was established, with thousands of twin cities’ residents visiting daily.

However, substandard food items, overcharging and poor seating arrangements, little parking space and above all, competition from various eateries in other parts of the city, caused the food park to lose popularity.

“I still remember in the beginning, we would have to wait for some time to get seated, but gradually because of the substandard food, the market lost its customers. These days, most of the chairs remain empty,” said Khalid Khan, a G-6 resident. He said thousands of people would visit the food park on the weekends.

In December 2015, the already struggling park saw the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) bulldoze the kitchens of many food outlets in a controversial anti-encroachment operation.

“We razed illegally constructed kitchens and some illegally built shops in the operation,” DMA Director Tahir Nadeem Shahbad said, but shopkeepers said they had been targeted.

“Instead of extending a helping hand to uplift the park, last year the DMA bulldozed several kitchens and stalls in a targeted operation,” park manager Babar Abbasi said. “This act will push our business back further.”

He said Capital Administration and Development Division Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, on the request of stall owners, ordered an inquiry to determine whether the operation was justified, but the findings of the inquiry have not been made public over a year after the operation.

Mr Abbasi said a 10pc increase in annual rent is also unjustified, as stall owners who were initially paying Rs7,000 a month to the Capital Development Authority are now forced to pay over Rs20,000 per stall, which he said was the main reason for the defaults.

Due to little business activity, eight out of a total 28 outlet owners have defaulted.

“We have sealed eight food outlets over defaults in payments worth millions of rupees,” Mr Shahbaz said. He added that the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad is mulling auctioning these stalls again.

Another DMA official added that it is the owners of these outlets who are responsible for the falling number of visitors, because they had overcharged customers for years while also providing substandard food.

“If shopkeepers provide the best quality food at a reasonable rate, coupled with polite behaviour towards the customers, the market will regain its charm,” the official claimed.

Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz has also shown an interest in the food park, and during a visit, said the resolving the park’s issues would be a priority.

The mayor also formed a committee led by the chairman of the I-9 union council, Sardar Mehtab, and made up of traders. The committee is tasked with finalising recommendations after reviewing the problems and difficulties facing traders, so steps can be taken to revive the capital’s food street.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2017