PESHAWAR, Aug 18: City district government has decided to convert a portion of the Jinnah Park — former Cunningham Park — into a ‘food street’ to generate revenue, officials acknowledged.

Officials said that the portion of the park that is opposite the Balahisar Fort was chosen for the purpose as the city district government was unable to find any suitable spot.

Director parks, Peshawar, Mohammad Arif Khan said that initially 10 cabins were being constructed on experimental basis. If the park attracted visitors, more area would be allotted to the food park, he said.

He claimed that commercial activities would not affect the park’s green area as proper arrangements would be made to preserve the lawns.

The tehsil municipal administration, Town-I, has started work on the construction of cabins on the paved portion of the park where only continental dishes would be served.

Three years ago, the City Municipal and Development Department had established a food street at Chowk Yadgar, a congested area inside the walled city.

The project was wound up as it received a poor response from the general public. Later, some food sellers had been declared a narrow street near the Clock Tower (Ghantaghar) as food street.