The health wing of the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation will intensify checks to curb illegal sale of vegetables at the Palayam vegetable market at night and early morning.
The decision comes in the wake of complaints raised by licensed vegetable vendors in the market. They had alleged that unlicensed vendors who brought vegetables from other States had been conducting trade in the market, and that it had affected their business.
Mayor Thottathil Raveendran who ordered the health wing to take action against illegal vendors also directed officials to check such practices in all markets in the corporation.
The issue was brought before the corporation council on Friday by Congress councillor P. Ushadevi, who, in an adjournment motion, demanded strict action against illegal vendors. According to her, unlicensed vendors are conducting business around 2 a.m. She said licensed traders had submitted several complaints to the corporation health officer, health supervisor, and the health standing committee chairman, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, the health supervisor informed that the night squad had recently nabbed a person who was illegally trying to sell colocasia at the Palayam market between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.
BJP councillor Navya Haridas brought the council’s attention once again to the stray dog menace in the city. She said the Animal Birth Control Centre of the corporation at Poolakkadavu was yet to be commissioned and demanded that the work be speeded up.
Meanwhile, development standing committee chairman P.C. Rajan said the work on the centre was in its final stages. The solid waste treatment plant at the ABC Centre-cum-superspecialty veterinary hospital will be completed in three weeks. The hospital will be commissioned once a suitable vehicle for transporting animals is acquired, he added.