In a move to prevent crowding in market places and prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Tiruvallur district administration has arranged take-away vegetable bags on a trial basis from Tuesday.
Each cloth bag, priced ₹100, will contain half a kilogram of onions, tomatoes, broad beans and drumsticks and a quarter kilogram of brinjal, potatoes and carrots, as well as two green plantains, green chillies, one bunch of spinach and one bunch of curry and coriander leaves.
The programme has been started on a trial basis in Uzhavar Sandhais in Avadi and Red Hills and 100 bags have been provided at each market. The move will be initiated in Tiruverkadu, Tirutani, Tiruvallur and Poonamallee too. This will be expanded to other places based on demand.
“If a person goes to the market, he will have to spend at least 15 minutes to purchase the vegetables. This will lead to crowding in the market as many others will wait for their turn. To prevent this we have come up with this idea. People can take the bag and leave after paying the money. It will have all the essential vegetables,” said G. Pandian, Deputy Director, Agriculture.
M. Kalaichelvi, 60, a resident of Putlur near Tiruvallur welcomed the move. “Being an elderly person I cannot wait for long in the queue. It took me two hours to purchase vegetables from supermarkets,” she said.
Mageswari Ravikumar, Collector, Tiruvallur, said that similar bags will be made available for meat and fish too. “Slowly we will be providing them at the ward or street level. So people do not have to leave the locality to buy these items. We are also promoting door delivery of groceries and medicines. For details people can check http://stopcoronatiruvallur.com/ ,” she said.
Besides, the Tiruvallur district administration is planning to provide grocery bags with Nilavembu Kudineer to those who are in quarantine. “There will be detailed instructions on dos and don’ts also,” she added.