CHENNAI: With Koyambedu Wholesale Market emerging as a hotspot for COVID-19, officials imposed a ban on 1,500 retail shops operating out of there. Now, this has resulted in a shortage of vegetables across the city. Areas like T Nagar, Mandaveli, Teynampet, Mylapore, Saidapet, Kotturpuram and Nandanam ran out of stock on Thursday.

These retail and semi-wholesale shops supply to city vendors about 10-20 kg of vegetables. Now with the clampdown, most shops cannot access the market. The fruits and flower shops, which were shifted to Madhavaram, could not operate in the new site as necessary arrangements are yet to be made.

SS Muthukumar of the small and semi-wholesale vegetable shop owners association told Express that the association consisting of 1,500 retail traders were not called for talks by the CMDA authorities over allocation of space by Chennai Corporation. “We are willing to talk on allocation of space for continuing the retail trade outside Koyambedu Wholesale Market,” he added.

“The market association is issuing a certain pass for retail vendors across the city and only a few are able to get them,” says Amsar Amir who owns a shop in T Nagar.Four days after the intensive lockdown and with only three days left for the second phase of the lockdown to come to an end, buying resumed with frenzy with people making a beeline in front of grocery shops.

‘Forced to sell at higher price’
“We will have to purchase at least two or three sacks (25kg per sack) of vegetables. Hence we purchase from other people. In turn, we are forced to sell vegetables at a higher price,” said R Sankar, who has opened a small retail shop in Nungambakkam.