Erratic Sunday lockdowns and illogically imposed containment zones in and around the city in the wake of the COVID-19 spread have irked not only traders but also farmers in Kozhikode district.
The closure of the Agricultural Urban Wholesale Market at Vengeri due to the rising COVID-19 cases has put the farmers of Kozhikode and Malappuram districts into hardship.
“Those who reached the markets on Mondays and Thursdays to auction vegetables are now unable to sell their produce. We are awaiting an order for reopening the markets now,” Narayanan Kalpakassery, chairman of Sangha Maithri, an apex body of farmers’ forums, and convener of the auction committee, said, adding that farmers had been facing a harrowing time due to the recurrent lockdowns from April. More than a dozen traders and headload workers at the Vengeri market had tested positive last week. A major factor leading to the present situation was allowing traders from the Palayam market to merchandise after it was closed due to COVID-19 spread, according to many.
The district administration has been drawing flak for unscientifically closing and reopening markets and the commercial streets in the city. “The objectives of the administration in shifting the goalposts are ambiguous. One day it closed down SM Street and its adjoining areas and allowed other commercial streets to function.
Similar is the case with the Palayam and Central markets. Daily wage earners have no means of livelihood,” Velayudhan, a worker, said.
Adding to the woes is the illogical method of converting the divisions in the corporation limits into containment zones. If a person tests positive in a division, the administration brackets the entire area as a containment zone.
“It seems, the administration has no idea about the geographical area of a division. The name of a division does not necessarily depend on the electoral or revenue areas. That means, a geographical area of a division will be spread across a major junction without any link to its revenue name,” Abdul Gafoor, a businessman, said.
The district administration has been urged to identify micro containment zones so as to avoid converting the entire division into a containment zone. “Hundreds of small businesses are on the verge of closure, not to mention the job losses in the unorganised sector,” he said.
