Temporary vegetable market begins functional at G. Corner ground

Retail traders at the Gandhi Market agree to shift after much reluctance

After a few rounds of hectic parleys, retail traders at the Gandhi Market in the city who had been resisting attempts by authorities to shift them to the temporary market set up at G. Corner near T.V.S. Tollgate on Tiruchi-Chennai Highway relented on Sunday. The temporary market began transacting business on Sunday evening. As per the instruction of Collector S. Divyadharshini, the officials of Tiruchi corporation closed some of the gates of the Gandhi Market on Monday morning, thereby denying access to retail traders. They were asked to move to the temporary market at G. Corner from Sunday, which had been re-established by the district administration to limit the crowding customers so as to check the spread of COVID-19 infections. Only wholesale traders were allowed to transact business as usual at the Gandhi Market. Though the retail traders were strictly asked to do business at G. Corner from Sunday, they visited the Gandhi Market and began trade as usual. But the Corporation officials curtailed them. To ensure shifting of retail traders to the G. Corner ground, the Corporation officials also began distributing tokens. But the traders strongly objected to the move, saying the action was discriminative, and would severely impact their livelihood.