The Greater Chennai Corporation has denied that the Koyambedu market complex would be closed again due to the rising number of COVID-19 positive cases among traders and workers.
Confirming that more than 50 persons had tested positive, a senior official of the civic body said that this had not happened on a single day but over a period of time after the wholesale vegetable market and food grains section reopened last month.
Pointing out that there was nothing alarming about 50 persons testing positive in the market, the senior official said tests were conducted on more than 3,500 persons in two weeks. He said the positivity rate was at a slightly more than 1%, but there was nothing to worry.
The market was closed on May 5 after it emerged as a COVID-19 hot spot. It all started during the last week of April when vendors in the city started to test positive for COVID-19. By early May, the Health Department acknowledged Koyambedu market to be a cluster as cases began to spread to other parts of the State. The Koyambedu cluster accounted for nearly 3,000 cases in the State by mid-May.
Health camps
Now, the civic body plans to organise health camps in the market regularly to keep the pandemic under check. The civic official said continuous testing along with individual precautions could alone keep the virus under control.
The civic body had said that the situation was under control and people need not fall prey to rumours of the market being proposed to be closed.
The Koyambedu market falls under the Kodambakkam zone where the number of positive cases had been the highest at 18,626 cases in the city. Anna Nagar stands second at 18,433 cases and Teynampet at 15,793 cases as per the figures of the civic body on Tuesday. The total active cases stood at 1,66,067.
Meanwhile, various traders’ associations demanded that the semi-wholesale vegetable shops must be opened as planned earlier and later reopen fruits and flowers sections in the market.
Association’s plea
Noting that only retailers who visited were tested positive for COVID-19, D. Rajasekaran, president, Federation of All Traders’ Associations of Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex, on Tuesday said cases were not reported among wholesale merchants and labourers in the Koyambedu market.
“Rumours about an increasing number of cases in the market will affect the livelihood of about 50,000 families dependent on the trade. Several semi-wholesalers and retailers have remained out of business for the past six months,” he said.
Of the nearly 3,500 shops waiting to be reopened, about 1,700 shops were vegetable semi-wholesalers. Only 200 vegetable wholesale shops shifted from Thirumazhisai functioned at Koyambedu and were closed by 9 a.m.
The crowd had reduced to 30,000 people, including wholesale vendors, daily. The market is being monitored by camera surveillance and several norms were in place, he added.
M. Thyagarajan, president, Koyambedu Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers Merchants Association, said prices of several vegetables had stabilised after the market was shifted to Koyambedu. Only a minimal number of cases had been reported so far. The government must take steps to reopen other sections of the market to protect livelihood of traders.
