Heavy rush at Koyambedu market

There was heavy rush in view of Saturday being a holiday for Corporation election

The Koyambedu wholesale vegetable market saw a surge in the number of visitors on Friday in view of holiday declared on Saturday for the Greater Chennai Corporation election. Traders have announced that the flower and fruits wholesale market will function on Saturday.

As more vehicles made a beeline to the vegetable market, there was traffic jam on the roads inside the complex.

G. D. Rajasekaran, president, Federation of All Vegetable Traders Associations of KWMC Periyar Market, said the market would remain closed on Saturday to enable workers cast their vote in their locality. There are about 6,000 workers in the vegetable market.

“The sales on Friday was 20% more than the daily average. But there was no increase in the prices of vegetables due to ample supply,” he said. The sales at the wholesale vegetable market, which normally closes by 7 a.m. daily, was extended till 11 a.m. on Friday.

Wholesale merchants said the market saw around 400 vegetable-laden trucks as against 370 seen usually. Similarly, nearly 5,000 vehicles of retailers entered the market.

Despite the heavy rush, the prices of vegetables remained unaffected with the exception of carrots (₹100 a kg) from Udhagamandalam and capsicum (₹70-80 a kg). Carrots from Hyderabad and Malur in Karnataka cost ₹30-40 a kg at the wholesale market.

The price of tomatoes ranged from ₹10 to ₹15 a kg. Beans were available at ₹10 to ₹20 a kg depending on the quality, said the traders.