CHENNAI: In a bid to make the Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex, one of Asia’s largest perishable goods markets, carbon-neutral, officials are planning to revamp the cold storage unit set up by the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation (TANFED) in Koyambedu and make it energy efficient.
The state government has entrusted IIT-Madras with the work of preparing a detailed project report to make the market plastic-free and carbon-neutral. The IIT already submitted an inception report in this regard last month. The report included requirement details of waste management, water supply, sanitation, stormwater management and rainwater harvesting.
Apart from that, the focus is on building structures and engineering sustainability, energy utilisation and carbon footprint, traffic management and transportation social survey, sources said. The operation of the cold storage unit in Koyambedu was earlier discontinued as the facility was not profitable.
Sources said that the market vendors have created their own independent cold storage facilities. TANFED was making profits from 1995 till 2002 but after that, the cold storage has been in the red. Initially, TANFED used to store, potatoes, chillies, tamarind and apples but with the fall in revenue, that too was stopped. It is learnt that every year the cold storage unit suffers a loss of Rs 25 lakh.
The loss has been such that the TANFED leased out six of their 21 grounds land to the Indian Oil Corporation’s petrol bunk. It is learnt that TANFED is getting more than Rs 45 lakh from this deal yearly. TANFED has been seeking tenders to modernise the plant and reduce the power cost.
Meanwhile, plans are also on to revamp the sewage pumps within the market complex besides providing additional water supply connections. At present, water is supplied to the Koyambedu market only through a borewell. The metro water supply was stopped at Koyambedu market after the water cess was not paid.