The Hindu : Scramble for work at Mettupalayam market

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 19, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Scramble for work at Mettupalayam market

By K.V. Prasad

COIMBATORE April 18 . Five days of the nationwide truck strike has thrown out of job over 1,000 headload workers in the Mettupalayam vegetable market, one of the biggest in the State. With supplies from Karnataka, Udhagamandalam and various parts of the Coimbatore-Erode region reduced to a trickle, there is virtually a fight to offload the poor arrivals.

R. Subbaiyan, president, Mettupalayam Vegetable Chamber of Commerce, drew a contrast between the normal and present arrivals to highlight the plight of the workers.

"Everyday, 20-25 loads of cabbage, of 10 tonnes each, came from Hasan and Chamarajnagar in Karnataka, Thalawadi in Erode district and also from the Nilgiris.

Besides, 30-35 loads of potatoes and varying loads of beans, beetroot, cauliflower, carrot and turnip came from the Nilgiris.

And, 90 per cent of these vegetables were sent to Kerala and the rest marketed in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Gobichettipalayam and Sathyamangalam."

Everyday labourers would get Rs. 3-6 a sack, depending on the weight.

Now with the arrivals highly inconsistent, the workers remained jobless for most part of the day.

LCV exploitation

On the flow of vegetables, Mr. Subbaiyan said there had been no stock of cauliflower and cabbage in the mundy for the past three days. Whatever arrived now was transported by light commercial vehicles (LCV) and the freight levied was exorbitant. The impact on prices, in the wake of the strike, was already severe on Kerala buyers.

The cost of transportation to that State by an LCV was Rs. 300 a sack. "Imagine the retail price in Kerala," Mr. Subbaiyan said.

The LCV operators were also trying to make maximum capital out of the situation, virtually bringing about a supply-cost imbalance.

Usually, when stocks piled up, the price tended to fall.

But, now, sensing that the traders would have to lift the stocks to prevent perishing, the vehicle operators escalated the transportation cost. And, there was no regulation of the charges either.

Hence, traders from the other areas were hesitant to lift stocks, unsure of the "costly" vegetables finding buyers in their markets.

On the other hand, when the arrivals thinned, the operators could not call the shots and the prices even dropped for a day. Beans, which was sold at Rs. 20 a kg, dropped to Rs. 10 and the price of carrot fell from Rs. 15 to Rs. 5.

However, Mr. Subbaiyan said, this problem was being solved with government buses transporting the vegetables to the neighbouring districts.

Still, in the last couple of days, the traders in Kerala were reluctant to lift the stocks, apprehending that the retail price might keep the buyers away.

The situation was so confusing that it was difficult to ascertain the level of price fluctuation, said Mr. Subbaiyan.

Meanwhile, arrangements have been made to transport vegetables from Udhagamandalam and Bangalore to Coimbatore by rail.

Tomatoes from far-flung areas of Coimbatore and also from neighbouring districts were arriving by government buses.

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