With the repening of hardware, electrical and furniture showrooms on West Boulevard Road in the city — where traders of Gandhi Market are also functioning temporarily — the stretch is now in the grip of unprecedented chaos.
Until Sunday, when the intensive lockdown was in force, the road was mainly used by vegetable and fruit traders and customers. In order to prevent overcrowding at Gandhi Market and to check spread of COVID-19 virus, Tiruchi Corporation closed the market about a month ago and shifted retail and wholesale operations to West Boulevard Road.
While wholesale traders were allowed to utilise West Boulevard Road from Kamaraj Arch to Vellamandi corner in the night, retail trade was allowed between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.
With the State government permitting standalone shops to transact business from Monday, most of the hardware, electrical and construction material showrooms have resumed trading.
Since the opening of business houses, the road is witnessing severe congestion and chaotic conditions.
According to a rough estimate, about 5,000 traders, workers, load men and customers visit the temporary market daily. The road bustles with the arrival of lorries transporting vegetables and fruits from different parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The unloading activities take place all through the night along with wholesale trading. A section of traders continues the trading activities in the day time too along with retail traders.
On the other hand, the permanent shops on the road too get a steady stream of customers. It is said that they do brisk business as they have resumed business after a gap of nearly a month. The reopening of business houses and vegetable trading on a busy road has led to chaos, confusion, unregulated movement of vehicles and traffic snarls. It has forced the permanent traders to urge the district administration to close the temporary market.
“The volume of traffic and movement of people have more than doubled due to opening of the temporary vegetable market. Vegetable traders set up shops in front of our showrooms. After business hours, they leave the road littered with garbage. The market should be shifted immediately,” says R. Ramesh Kamak, a trader on West Boulevard Road.
Traders also complain of a rise in rodent menace ever since the temporary market started functioning on the road, posing problems to shopkeepers. “It has become a big menace. The rats damage highly valuable items, thereby causing financial loss to us,” adds C. Ramesh, a furniture trader.