ISLAMABAD: In Ramazan, the historic Kartarpura food street in Rawalpindi comes alive each night, offering an array of culinary delights mainly for Sehri.

This year, the visitors to the food market can witness two major changes. The authorities have streamlined the street, taking various measures to facilitate the visitors who throng the market to enjoy its delicacies.

“All the stalls and food vendors…have been shifted to the New Kartarpura food market that is under the Chandni Chowk flyover; this has created enough space here,” said a traffic police official posted in Kartarpura.

“Besides, we close the street with barriers after midnight, not even allowing motorcycles to pass through; this way the movement of visitors remains easy.”

Some stalls, vendors have been moved to Chandni Chowk by authorities to ease congestion

The old Kartarpura food market is situated near Banni Chowk, Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, another key addition to the old Kartarpura food street was the introduction of a modern payment tool, usually non-existent on the ground. While this bustling street has become a focal point for both locals and visitors seeking to experience traditional Pakistani street food, both the vendors and visitors face certain issues. These issues were related to a lack of change in case the visitor was carrying a large denomination currency note and other issues.

“Last year someone handed me a fake Rs5,000 note, but I did not see it due to a large number of people,” said Muhammad Haider, who comes from Lahore to sell traditional ‘batoore’.

Through digital payments, the amount is directly transferred into the accounts, and the sellers do not worry about carrying huge sums of money after business hours.

“We all were worried about handling cash from the start of fasting time up to late morning when markets or the banks opened,” another food seller at Kartarpura added.

On the other hand, the visitors do not have to be wary of pickpockets in crowds, as payments can easily be made from their digital wallets on their mobile phones.

JazzCash Spokesman Khayyam Siddiqi said that promoting a cashless economy was a global objective and a policy agenda of the government. “We have offered incentives to both the sellers and the buyers to promote digital payments,” Mr Siddiqi added.

He highlighted that the upmarket vendors have installed QR codes for digital payments but digital literacy is needed for the street vendors, especially those in the food and snacks business.

Kartarpura has gained popularity as local delicacies such as nihari, paya, varieties of chickpeas, and many more attract the residents of the twin cities, as these varieties are not commonly available in Rawalpindi and Islamabad round the year. However, lassi, both saltish and sweet, remains the key attraction, with a large number of vendors coming from Lahore and Gujranwala to sell this item.

Over the years, Kartarpura food market has become a social spot in Ramazan. However, by the time this month ends, this market will also lose much of its charm, as vendors usually leave Rawalpindi for their native areas, only to come back next year.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025