CHENNAI: Amidst a 21-day nationwide lockdown to tackle COVID-19, retail vegetable shops in the Koyambedu wholesale market violated the curfew and remained open despite a placard at the gate announcing that the shops will remain closed.
Though Market Management Committee (MMC) officials made announcements and asked the shops to close, it was of no avail. As a result, the cops were called in to erect barriers across the roads leading to the market and stopping two-wheelers and four-wheelers except those pertaining to the wholesale market.
"We have been trying to stop them from functioning," said an MMC official as he along with his team of officials threatened to seal the shops. "They are not aware of the gravity of the situation and it is difficult to control them," he said.
The market had people flocking from several parts of city, some with children, wives, and aged mothers trying to buy vegetables from the market.
When Express spoke to a couple who entered the market with their children, aged below 10, they said they were here to buy vegetables and were indifferent to the clampdown. "We will finish shopping soon," the woman said. One of them was using a government vehicle and left the children inside while going on a shopping spree.
It is learnt that the market is trying to take police help to keep people from visiting the market. Some MMC officials were seen taking away the keys from the two-wheelers as the owners pleaded that they won't visit the market.
Muthukumar, the retail vegetable association head, told Express that retail vegetable shops are closed at the market but when he was informed they were functioning, he asked officials to shut it down.
Many of the traders and visitors were reluctant to leave the market with some stating that shops near their residence are not functioning.
Meanwhile, many truck drivers in Koyambedu market were seen looking for eateries to satisfy their hunger. A driver from Patna said he could not find any restaurants open.
The chief administrative officer of Koyambedu market said that the MMC had made arrangements to supply workers and drivers with food parcels.