City needs a resilient marketing strategy for its markets

 As markets are seen as lifelines of farmers and traders, who depend on them for marketing and selling their products, thousands of people directly and indirectly have their livelihood placed on their functioning.

Not just their business, but the basic infrastructures like shops, essential facilities like lighting, bathrooms, road connectivity, waste management, among others, should also fit in their places to keep the functioning healthy and active.

Madurai, also known for its ample number of markets in and around the city, has been a source of livelihood for not just the locals but also for people from other nearby districts like Theni, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, etc.  

On most of the days in a week, every market in the city, be it central market and flower market near Mattuthavani, or South Gate market or Thayir market, can be seen buzzing with people trying to bargain with the vendors to arrive at a suitable price.  

However, the markets, going by what the traders and public said, needed immediate attention from the authorities.  

S. Ramachandran, flower markets president, said the market running along the paddy seeds shops and fertilizers shop at Agriculture commercial complex at Mattuthavani, had no proper waste management system in practice.  

As 102 flower shops, 127 paddy seed shops and 60 fertiliser shops were running in the complex, the flower shops produce the maximum amount of waste due to the perishable nature of the product, he added.  

“Flowers usually get sold at marriage seasons and festival times. But, during normal times, when the flowers are not sold, they should be discarded,” he noted.  

Unlike fruits and vegetables, flowers could not be preserved in any cold room facilities to retain their quality and freshness, Mr. Ramachandran stated.  

But, when there is an excess waste generation, there should be an effective waste management system in practice.  

Charging the Corporation of Madurai with disregarding their plight for several years, he said that the waste dumped at the flower market was being removed only once in three months.  

“When they get dumped and start decaying, the place looks so clumsy and becomes unfit to be used by the public and even the traders,” he noted.  

Despite paying the property tax to the Corporation and maintenance fee to the Agriculture Department, why would they have to suffer, he added.  

In addition, they also do not have any drinking water or toilet facilities in the market area, he claimed.  

Echoing similar situation, N. Chinnamayan, president, MGR Central Market Anaithu Vyaapaarigal Kootamaippu (all merchants’ federation), said that of the three toilet facilities, only two were functioning.  

In addition to these temporary problems, long-pending issues like the improper sewage system, waste management and poor roads were yet to be resolved, he noted.  

Though several accidents have been reported due to poor road conditions, the issue was not taken up seriously by the officials, Mr. Chainnamayan said.  

Also, garbage removal from the market was not regular, due to which, it gets collected and becomes huge heaps, he complained.  

As several representations were made to deploy a vehicle with at least 35 workers, the Corporation officials asked the association to get a vehicle for cleaning purposes, he said.  

Noting that they were asked to chip in funds under ‘Namakku Naame’ scheme for laying roads, he asked, why they collected rentals every month.  

In contrast to the situation in these markets, the newly built shops with adequate facilities for traders at Thayir market on East Marret Street despite after inauguration, has hit a roadblock in functioning.  

“The facility, built at a cost of ₹1.47 crore, due to the vendors’ protest to change the mode of rent payment, remained unused,“ said C. Sakkarai, secretary, CITU market branch. 

As the rent went up to ₹6,000/month as per the Corporation’s rent fixation, how could the vendors who paid just ₹40 for a day afford the exorbitant rent, he questioned.  

While the revamped complex has 84 shops along with parking facilities, 64 shops should be given to the old vendors and the remaining 20 shops to roadside vendors, Mr. Sakkarai said.  

But, due to the confusion in allocating the shops and fixing the rent, the newly built infrastructure remained shut, and the vendors still run their shops on the roadside, he noted.  

As the difference of opinion between the section of workers has slowed down the shop allocation works, Corporation officials said their arguments were being heard to arrive at a decision in alloting shops.  

Similarly in South Gate Market, ward 47 councillor Banu Mubarak Manthiri said that since the shops were running on the road which leads to the airport, traffic and pollution were causing distress to the vendors.  

As a used market space was available in the location nearby, they asked the Corporation to provide them with enhanced facilities.  

“The relocation would be better for both the vendors and the public to access the market,” she noted.  

A Corporation official said, regarding the flower market, the agriculture association, as it did not pay property tax or solid waste user tax to the corporation, the waste collection activity was stopped.  

Despite that, heeding to their demands, last year, they were given access to the Vellakkal bio-composting facility to dump the waste collected from the market, he added.  

“They are doing the waste collection works on their own, but in between, they also ask for the Corporation to collect the waste,” he noted. 

In the central market, removal of huge heaps of waste by the workers was a challenge. When the roads and drainage system were corrected, it would become easy for Corporation vehicles to collect the waste from shops, the official noted.  

“They are also planning to place bins outside every shop to make the waste collection process easier,” he said.  

Corporation Commissioner Chitra Vijayan said the vendors at Thayir market have accepted the rent fixed by the Corporation.  

“As they demanded we too agreed to collect the rent daily. Once the shop allocation is over, they will relocate the shops to their allotted places,” she added.