Veggie shortage in Chennai: Government to set up shops in five places

CHENNAI: The horticulture department will begin selling vegetables and fruits at five locations in the city from Thursday to tide over the shortage.
A senior official said a meeting held on Wednesday decided to make the arrangement because the Koyambedu market was shut due to people not following social distancing norms and trucks with vegetables and fruits from across the state and from other states had stopped arriving at the market from Tuesday.

This had led to the demand for vegetables soaring. Taking advantage of the situation, several retail traders who had stocked up on vegetables, mainly the always-in-demand tomatoes, small and big onions and potatoes, and jacked up the prices steeply, he said. By Wednesday afternoon, many customers said, the prices had hit the roof.
K Mohan, a resident of OMR, said beans, elephant yam, brinjal, bhindi (ladies’fingers) and other vegetables were priced at Rs 80 per kg. “Two days ago, these vegetables were selling at Rs 40 a kg or Rs 50 a kg,” he said.
In north Chennai, Broadway resident Ganesan said, a kg of tomatoes was selling at Rs 100.
On Thursday, the department will get 500 tonnes of vegetables - onions and tomatoes from Bengaluru and Krishnagiri, greens, brinjal, bhindi and bitter gourd from Kancheepuram, Chengalpet, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram districts. “While we will not be able to get the 5,000 tonnes of vegetables that the Koyambedu market was getting on an average every day, we will at least be able to reduce the demand and cater to a sizeable population in the city,” the official said.
The government had already announced that it was shifting the vegetable market from Koyambedu to the Thirumazhisai satellite township, but is yet to complete the process. When contacted, Chandran, a trader at the Koyambedu market, said the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) officials had promised to take them to the new location in Thirumazhisai in Tiruvallur district by Wednesday. The trip has now been put off to Thursday, he said.
However, the new site is yet to be fully functional and cannot be used as such. “We had demanded various facilities such as sheds to sell the vegetables and fruits and proper rest rooms for traders as well as for customers. It will take at least four days to create these facilities in the new place,” he said.