COIMBATORE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city for a road show on Monday enthused the BJP cadre. But scores of traders, vendors and hawkers who make a living in Anna daily market on the Mettupalayam Road and East TV Samy Road in RS Puram were distraught after losing their day’s earnings as all shops in the route in which the PM’s motor cade passed were shut for security reasons. Sources said business worth `10 crore was affected as a result of the closure of the shops.
More than 500 shops. including vegetable markets and hotels, situated on Mettupalayam Road and East TV Samy Road in RS Puram remained closed since Monday morning. They were also allegedly warned against opening. “They should have conducted the road show on Sunday when almost all the shops remain closed, It would have spared us the hardship. Daily wage labourers were the most affected,” said Rakesh Kumar, a hardware store proprietor on the Mettupalayam Road.
Coimbatore Anna market all traders association treasurer K Abdul Samathu told TNIE, “Police on Sunday instructed us to keep the shops closed. So, all 476 shops were closed. Even farmers were affected as the majority of the vendors trade in perishable goods. On Sunday, we had to close the shops by afternoon. We threw away the veggies and other perishable goods. Over Rs 2 crore worth of daily trade has been affected in the Anna Market due to the closure of shops.”
A tea stall owner on East TV Samy Road, seeking anonymity, said Monday is one of the profitable days for him and the forced closure of the shop deprived him of revenue. Apart from him, motorists were irked over the changes in the traffic at several places across the city due to the road show.
“To reach Town Hall or Ukkadam from Kavundampalayam, we were asked to take a left turn from the Mettupalayam Road to Sanganur Road, reach Gandhipuram via Ganapathy and then reach our desired destinations. This is absolutely ridiculous. Just like a Vijay-Vivek movie, everywhere we went, it was only ‘Take Diversion’ on Monday, thanks to Modi’s roadshow,” said, G Saranya, a motorist.