The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Thalavady regulated market lacks infrastructure

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Tuesday, Nov 03, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Thalavady regulated market lacks infrastructure

Karthik Madhavan

On an average 15,000 coconuts are traded a week

PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN

Needs facelift: Regulated market in Thalavady sees good inflow of coconuts, but is poor in infrastructure. —

THALAVADY: Thalavady regulated market in the hills here does good business but is poor in infrastructure. The market that serves hundreds of tribal hamlets in the hills sees coconut trade on Fridays.

On an average 15,000 coconuts are traded a week, says the market Supervisor J. Rajan. A couple of weeks ago the market saw a little over 15,000 coconut exchange hands. Last week it was 19,096 nuts in 185 lots.

For facilitating the trade, the market committee charges one per cent of the traded value as cess.

Cess

The amount goes towards the market maintenance and infrastructure development. In the week ending October 9, the committee earned Rs. 400 in cess, followed by Rs. 502 in the week ending October 16 and in the subsequent week it managed to net Rs. 275.

This is only for coconut, though. Mr. Rajan says the committee also facilitates trade in maize, turmeric, cotton for farmers from Tamil Nadu and also Karnataka.

In fact, maize is the largest traded commodity in the market.

In 2008-09, the market earned Rs. 5.50 lakh from maize trade, Rs. 1.46 lakh in turmeric trade and then Rs. 48,346 in coconut. The first two are seasonal. It is coconut trade that goes on round the year, the supervisor says.

Though there is steady in flow of commodities the infrastructure in the market has not been particularly good. Window panes are damaged and the entire structure, which is on 22.5 cents of land is without any compound.

Mr. Rajan says the market committee is the legal owner for 65 cents of land that is abutting its building but is yet to take possession of it.

The committee and the previous land owners went to court to decide the ownership of the land. Madras High Court, which heard the case, ruled in favour of the committee.

Mr. Rajan says all that the committee has is the court verdict but not the land. Enquiries with the Erode Marketing Committee office says the Thalavady market is waiting for the Revenue Department to take possession of the land and then hand it over. Once the land is in its possession, Mr. Rajan says, the committee will build a compound and provide better amenities to the farmers.

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