From Wednesday, wholesale onion traders would function from Eru Company, Commissioner P. Kumaravel Pandian said on Tuesday after inspecting the MGR Wholesale Market and a few other places.
Officials, who accompanied him, said the shifting was to decongest the MGR market to ensure traders and visitors adhered to COVID-19 safety protocol.
The Corporation considered the possibility of moving them to the Mettupalayam Road bus stand, as it had done in 2020 when the lockdown was in effect, but decided against it because the bus stand was in use.
The Corporation chose Eru Company because wholesale tomato traders from the Market continued to use a portion of the bus stand. Asking the onion traders to move to the bus stand would decongest the Market, and lead to overcrowding in the bus stand.
The officials said the Corporation would provide toilet facility and water connection to the traders, who would have to erect temporary shelters to store goods and conduct business.
MGR Wholesale Market trader A. Subramani said around 30 traders dealt with onion. Though they were only one-third of the total trader strength, the volume of onion they traded overshadowed other vegetables. The market saw 600 tonnes onion exchange hands.
