Defaulting traders told to pay up and occupy shops at Kallikudi market or face action

In an attempt to make the Central Market for Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers at Kallikudi fully functional, the District Market Committee has asked traders who had defaulted on rent to immediately pay the dues to renew their rental agreements

In an attempt to make the Central Market for Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers at Kallikudi fully functional, the District Market Committee has asked traders who had defaulted on rent to immediately pay the dues to renew their rental agreements. They have been asked to occupy and run the shops.

The shops were allotted to traders in September 2020 and the agreements had to be renewed periodically. However, many traders have not paid their rent and the electricity charges, despite repeated notices. They are required to pay rents with the stipulated 5% increase for every 11 months and get the agreements renewed. They should occupy the shops and make them functional within seven days, Collector M. Pradeep Kumar said in a press release.

Failure to comply would result in action under the Revenue Recovery Act. The shops of the defaulters would be taken possession of by the authorities and brought for reauction for fresh allotment, he warned.

The market, situated 12 km away from the city off the Tiruchi-Madurai National Highway, has not been fully functional ever since it was opened in September 2017. Wholesale traders of the Gandhi Market in Tiruchi, for whom it was meant for initially, refused to shift to the market on the grounds that it was far away from the city and did not suit their requirements.

The market, established on 9.79 acres of land with 830 shops, was conceived and executed when the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa represented the Srirangam Assembly constituency, in the wake of persistent demand for shifting the wholesale section of Gandhi Market to a more spacious location.

As the small size of the shops was cited as one of the shortcomings by the traders, suitable modifications were made. Subsequently, the shops were allotted to traders, some of whom were operating in Gandhi Market. However, hardly a handful of traders moved in and they wound up operations after a few days.

The authorities allotted some of the shops to farmers’ producers’ groups/organisations too. In recent months, a few fruit merchants had taken some of the shops in the market on rent for being used as storage or transit points. The cold storage at the market complex has come in handy for the merchants to store fruits. A few of them had created their own storage infrastructure at the rented shops.