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Tamil Nadu
Vegetable market awaits salvation
| Incessant rain in past few days has added to shoppers’ woes |
Eyesore: Arignar Anna Vegetable market is in need of attention. —
CUDDALORE: The Arignar Anna vegetable market at Manjakuppam, in the heart of the town, has been in a state of neglect for years. Incessant rain that lashed the town in the past few days has made the condition worse.
Heaps of garbage, puddles and slushy pathways that give out a stench make consumers cringe before stepping into the market. Rashly driven two-wheelers inside the market splash muddy water on them.
The market has over 60 shops doing brisk business, both wholesale and retail, but is woefully lacking in amenities. The shopkeepers have very little space for loading and unloading vegetables.
An elderly shopkeeper told The Hindu that the market was established four decades ago but the civic body had never deemed it fit to improve its condition. There were shops with leaky roofs and crumbling structure.
He said in a recent fire, more than a dozen shops with thatched roofs were reduced to ashes. Municipal Chairman T. Thangarasu had promised to extend financial assistance to the affected shopkeepers for rebuilding, but this never materialised.
The shopkeepers were left to fend for themselves and many sought the help of customers to reconstruct their establishments. The shopkeepers were paying rent regularly, at the rate of Rs.213 a month, to the Cuddalore Municipality. Their repeated pleas to refurbish the market had fallen on deaf ears.
He further said the unseemly sight of the market was causing a dip in business because shoppers were driven to other places.
T. Renuka, a shopper, said that the market was strategically located but because of its nauseating environs she detested going there. When diseases such as swine flu were a threat, such unhygienic conditions in a vegetable market did not augur well.
When contacted, Municipal Commissioner Kumar said that there was a proposal to improve the three vegetable markets — Pan Pari marketat Thirupadiripuliyur, Bakthavathchalam market in the Old Town area and the Arignar Anna market.
He had broached the topic with Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin during his recent visit to Cuddalore. However, the Commissioner would not commit as to when the proposal would become a reality and merely said that the municipal administration was following it up.
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