The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Rain eats into the wholesale business at Koyambedu market

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 09, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Rain eats into the wholesale business at Koyambedu market

Swahilya

Vegetables rot, garbage piles up due to poor storage and upkeep facilities Vegetables rot, garbage piles up as poor storage and upkeep facilities add to traders' woes

SHABBY LOOK: Slush and rotting vegetable garbage greet wholesalers, retailers and customers at the Koyambedu vegetable market on Tuesday. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: Putrefying vegetables, slippery slush, mounds of garbage amid stagnant water and bumpy roads ... This was the scene at the wholesale perishables market at Koyambedu on Tuesday.

Not only is business dull but the rotting vegetables could pose a health hazard, visitors said.

"Our business is bad and there is no one coming here to buy," is the complaint of many a retailer who saw a sharp drop in customers because of the heavy rain.

V.R. Soundararajan, vice-president of the Licensed Traders' Association said the heavy traffic jam and heavy rains made it difficult to bring in the goods. With reduced sales and no proper storage facilities, most of the goods have perished.

"Chennai has a totally retail market for vegetables and fruits unlike Bangalore which has a wholesale market and the rain has hit our business badly," he said.

S. Muralidharan, vice-president of the Koyambedu Periya Vegetable Market Welfare Association, said the roofs of godowns leaked hastening the decomposing of vegetables.

Under the circumstances, vegetable prices have gone up. Carrot, which cost Rs. 15 a kg on Monday, cost Rs. 20 on Tuesday. The price of beans went up from Rs. 20 to Rs. 22 a kg, cabbage from Rs. 7 to Rs. 8 a kg, beetroot from Rs. 8 to Rs. 10 a kg, chow-chow from Rs. 6 to Rs. 8 a kg, brinjal from Rs. 8 to Rs. 9 a kg, radish from Rs. 8 to Rs. 10 a kg, and onions from Rs. 20 to Rs. 24a kg.

However, the price of potato hovered between Rs. 10 and Rs. 14 a kg as the stock endured the rain. The price of tomatoes came down from Rs. 20 to Rs. 18 a kg as arrivals increased. The transport charges for a bag of potatoes from Ooty has gone up by Rs. 30 to Rs. 38 due to bad road conditions.

D. Rajasekharan, president of the Association, said garbage at the market was not being cleared regularly and the stagnating water had now become a fertile ground for mosquitoes.

"To stand near a heap of rotting onions for half an hour is enough for people to fall sick. With over 10,000 labourers staying in the complex, we are prone to water and air-borne diseases," he said.

The Association has made several representations to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority seeking better maintenance and upkeep of the market. "But little has been done so far and the present situation has made it worse," Mr. Rajasekharan said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu