Food lovers in Kolkata and Siliguri, two premier munic- ipal cities in the state, are all set to get four special modernised ‘Food Streets’ to meet their gastronomic requirements in a healthy and hygienic ambience.
Kolkata will get three Food Streets in its premier and high footfall areas Patuli along EM Bypass, Tala Jhil Park and Russel Street while the rest one will come up on Station Feeder Road under the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC).
Each Food Street will cost Rs one crore. In an order issued by the health depart- ment headed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee on 11 October, Narayan Swarup Nigam, principal secretary in the department, has approved Rs 4 crore for the four Food Streets.
According to the order: “The financial sanction shall be used for developing provision of drinking water, hand washing & toilet facilities, tiles flooring of common area, appropriate liquid & solid waste disposal, branding, using billboards, façade preparation and signage of permanent nature, common storage space, lighting etc. However, this fund shall not be used for any construction or renovation of shops.”
“The street foods often reflect variety of traditional food with different tastes and flavours, and are easily available and accessible at every corner of the city. H&FW (health and family welfare) department with technical assistance from FSSAI (Food Safety and Stan- dards Authority of India) has initiated training of food handlers, independent third- party audits and certification of Eat Right Street Food Hubs,” the order stated.
“We will float a tender soon to select agencies for set- ting up of the three food streets where popular food items of Kolkata as well Bengal will be available in healthy and hygienic ambience. After KOLKATA Patuli EM Bypass Ward 101 Tala Jhil Park Ward 5Russel Street Ward 63
SILIGURI Station Feeder Road making extensive inspections in different popular prime locations in the city our steering committee com- prising senior experts of our civic body has selected three spots Russel Street, Patuli and Tala Jhil Park,” a senior official of the KMC told The Statesman.
“One hundred such food streets under FSSAI will come up in the country. While selecting sites in the city we have taken several impor- tant issues like underground supply lines of electricity, water, telecommunication etc into account seriously. No such service should be affect- ed during construction or renovation work of the project. Every food street will have festive look giving maximum enjoyment and minimum trauma,” the offi- cial added requesting anonymity.