The Hindu            13.11.2013

Civic body identifies new site for shifting wholesale onion market

After failing to make any headway on its earlier plan to
shift some of the wholesale sections of the Gandhi Market to G. Corner
grounds, the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation is now toying with the idea
of shifting wholesale onion traders to the Sengulam Colony market in
the city.

The corporation seemed to have dropped, for
all practical purposes, the proposal to shift wholesale onion, banana,
jaggery, and fruit markets, currently functioning around Gandhi Market
in the city, to G. Corner grounds along the Tiruchi-Chennai bypass. The
2.50-acre site near Sengulam Colony, which had been encroached upon by a
few private individuals for several years, was recovered by the civic
body a few years ago with the help of the district administration. A
market was established on a portion of the land. Recently, the
Corporation Council gave its nod for constructing a shopping complex on
the site.

After an inspection of the site on Tuesday,
Mayor A. Jaya instructed civic officials to shift the onion wholesale
section, currently functioning along the Sub-Jail Road outside the
Gandhi Market, to the Sengulam Colony. Onion wholesale traders could be
shifted gradually to the proposed multi-storeyed shopping complex which
would have commercial space for a daily market and parking area, she
said.

However, enquiries with the onion wholesale
traders at the Gandhi Market revealed that the corporation has not
consulted them on the matter so far.

“The corporation
has come up with different proposals at various times. But so far, we
have not been consulted on the suitability of the site or our
requirements,” said a wholesale onion trader on condition of anonymity.

“We
are ready to move out provided we get suitable space as we too are
facing problems in functioning along the Sub Jail Road,” he said. There
are about 70 wholesale traders functioning and each of them requires a
minimum of 1,000 square feet of space. Besides, there should be adequate
space for movement of trucks and for loading and unloading, according
to the traders.

But most of the wholesale traders
engaged in onion and other vegetables feel that both traders and
consumers would stand to benefit if the corporation built an integrated
market to accommodate all of them rather than moving the wholesale
sections in bits and pieces to different parts of the city.

Ms.
Jaya, who inspected the “vazhakkai mandi” during the day, instructed
the officials to construct a new building at the overhead drinking water
tank complex at Virugupettai to accommodate some of the banana traders.
The mandi is facing acute space shortage and infrastructure
constraints. She directed the officials to build rest rooms with toilets
and bathrooms at the corporation lorry parking lot on the East
Boulevard Road where trucks coming to the Gandhi Market are parked.
Commercial space for selling spare parts for trucks would be provided at
the parking lot. A community kitchen with a biogas unit would be built
at a cost of Rs. 15 lakh near the Amma canteen at Viragupettai.