The 36-year-old wholesale fruit market at Kothapet ceased to exist from the early hours of Tuesday with the government pulling down all the sheds in the 21 acre campus to pave way for construction of a multi-super speciality hospital.
The campus has also been transferred by the marketing department to the medical and health department.
High drama prevailed at the site past midnight on Monday with the arrival of authorities to take its possession on orders of the High Court. On February 8, the court had directed the government to give the traders and commission agents at the market one month to take their belongings and shift operations to the temporary accommodation at the logistics park in Batasingaram until a permanent marketyard was constructed at Koheda.
But, Marketing Director G. Lakshmi Bai said the traders resumed operations on March 4, four days ahead of the deadline set by court to clear the place.
With no option left, a large number of officials with the help of police demolished the market after midnight amidst strong resistance by traders. Police resorted to lathicharge to clear the mob.
Ms. Lakshmi Bai said full scale transactions were already taking place at Batasingaram. Transactions to the tune of 25,000 quintals took place on Sivaratri.
