Coimbatore traders demand curb on unregulated weekly markets

COIMBATORE: A group of traders from Ganapathy, who belong to the Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangal Peravai, said weekly markets or “sandhais” are a welcome event. However, in the name of “sandhais”, there are a growing number of individuals who set up weekly markets in land adjoining temples and private lands on Saturdays, they said.
Traders said in Ganapathy there was a growing number of unregulated fruit and vegetable markets cropping up in places not permitted to function as markets.
“First of all, to hold a market in a place, you need to have a fire safety licence, corporation permission, among others. If it’s a food-related market, the person organising the market and people participating need to have GST numbers, sales tax numbers and FSSAI registrations,” said P Manickam, who heads the organisation.
“Without any of these, on some Saturdays, someone organises a market in a place adjoining a temple like the Mariamman Temple in Ramakrishnapuram or a private 3 acre plot in Balamurugan Nagar,” he said.
“Since they don’t have to follow these rules and get permissions, their overheads are lesser and produce cheaper. People want to save Rs 30 and Rs 40 buy their weekly vegetables from them rather than genuine shopkeepers and traders,” he said.
“We add the cost of getting all the above permits, registrations and licences to our product cost only,” he added¬