News Today 07.09.2010
The green signal given by the Madras High Court to the cleaning process in the Koyamedu Wholesale and Retail Vegetable Market has evoked a mixed response from the shopkeepers there. A shopkeeper said, ‘It is a welcome move. Cleaning up the market entirely would provide for better sanitation and it would attract more number of customers than ever.’ |
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It is to be noted that the Market Management Committee has awarded contract to a private player who would be deploying 300- and-odd sanitary workers to clean the market. It has been reported that the market generates around 180 metric tonnes of waste everyday and they are dumped in the Kodungaiyur land-fill area. If the plan goes as scheduled the waste generated from the market would reduce to 50 metric tonnes. CMDA has awarded a sum of Rs 33.63 crore to the market for its facelift. Said an official from MMC : The funds would be used to repair the roads, truck bays and SWDs in the complex. There are currently 12 truck bays of which a few do not have proper road facility and also the SWDs in the market don’t serve its purpose. All these would be worked upon and the market would attracting more visitors, he added. All said and done, Asia’s largest market complex is getting better. Certainly welcome news as some of the merchants say. About the facilities The complex has around 3,000 odd shops spread across 70 acres. There are markets for vegetables, fruits and flowers separately. These markets were constructed in the first phase. A textile market and a food grain market is planned for phase two and three respectively. The market complex attracts thousands and thousands of visitors every day. It also has a truck bay which receives around 500 trucks daily. There are 12 truck bays out of which only nine have concrete roads. Reaching the complex The market complex is well connected with all transport modes. It has the CMBT close by. The Central Station can be reached on a single stretch via Poonamallee High Road (NH4), a six lane highway, connecting Koyambedu to the Chennai Central Railway Station while the Jawaharlal Nehru Road (also known as Inner Ring Road or 100-feet road) also connects Koyambedu to GST Road. What the court said The move initiated by the MMC to close the market complex in last Fridays of every month for cleaning process was challenged at the Madras High Court by some traders. Accordingly, the court put a stay on the move and after few days the Court revoked its stay and allowed the cleaning process be taken as per the scheduled day. History Koyambedu Wholesale and Retail Market complex was started with an idea to decongest the traffic in the city. Earlier the wholesale market was located at Kotwal Chawdi in George Town. It was in Chennai’s first Master Plan in 1975 which proposed shifting of the market to Koyambedu from George Town. The construction was completed in 1990’s and was formally inaugurated in 1996. |