With bus service resumed and wholesale and retail vegetable markets started functioning from July 5, farmers urged the district administration to reopen the Uzhavar Sandhai in the district.
Due to COVID-19 second wave, the market at Sampath Nagar and Periyar Nagar was shifted to the Government Girls Model Higher Secondary School at Panneerselvam Park and later it was closed. Since TNSTC bus services were not operated in May and June, farmers faced difficulty in selling their produce and were forced to sell their produce at a very low price to the middlemen.
After the State government relaxed lockdown restrictions, buses were operated while the market that functioned temporarily at the VOC Park Ground was also re-opened. But, no announcement was made regarding reopening of uzhavar sandhai. Members of the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association said that only farmers market, weekly sandhai and cattle sandhai were not allowed to function that affect the farmers directly. “Farmers sell their produce directly to the people at low price benefiting both. For the past two months, only middlemen were benefited”, they added.
Since the sandhai at Sampath Nagar was not opened, roadside shops selling vegetables and fruits have come up in large numbers.
