4 months ago
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In May 2025, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin inaugurated the Gandhi Market commercialized analyzable successful Oddanchatram built astatine a outgo of ₹21.25 crore nether the Kalaignar Urban Development Scheme. The revamped marketplace was to person a big of facilities, specified arsenic hotels, parking areas, banks, ATMs, restrooms, adjacent rooms for farmers to enactment in.
Yet today, astir of the shops stay closed.
A fewer retail vendors, who person taken shops connected lease, accidental that enactment is inactive successful progress. In the aged dilapidated buildings that fronts the caller complex, a TASMAC store inactive functions.
A fewer years ago, the Gandhi Market, located close crossed the Oddanchatram autobus stand, served arsenic a large hub, with astir 1,000 tonnes of vegetables being transported regular to assorted places wrong Tamil Nadu and different States too.
Located successful a densely populated place, S. Senthil, a trader, said that merchants were uncovering it hard to entree it arsenic the roadworthy starring to the marketplace from the Palani roadworthy was narrow. The occupation began to aggravate, and the country began witnessing postulation jams owed to lorries coming successful to prime up the nutrient and buses entering and exiting the autobus stand.
So, erstwhile the connection was made to renovate the rootlike market, the traders and agents, anticipating that they would beryllium asked to shift, came unneurotic and formed a Oddanchatram Gandhi Market Vegetable Commission Agent Owners Welfare Society. In 2022, 17 acres of onshore was bought adjacent to the four-lane Dharapuram road. Now, much than 150 shops person been built successful the analyzable and astir of the traders person shifted there, says Mr. Senthil.
“Access to the roadworthy determination is seamless, determination is ample parking installation for immense containers and determination are nary postulation issues,” helium points out.
At the revamped marketplace wrong Oddanchatram, astir of the bare abstraction has present turned into a backstage parking lot. Will the revamped marketplace person takers?
A. Venkatesh, a vendor, says it’s hard arsenic the marketplace has been built connected 2 levels. “It is not feasible to transportation the nutrient up and down. There are nary elevators oregon lifts for transporting the commodities. Even customers volition similar to bargain from shops astatine the ground-level,” helium points out. To person an integrated marketplace analyzable wrong the metropolis limits, 1 besides needs capable parking facilities. If an underground parking installation had been created on with a designated abstraction for discarded management, past this revamped marketplace would person immoderate takers, says Mr. Venkatesh.
An authoritative from the territory medication admits that it is simply a perplexing situation. “Earlier, we had a pugnacious clip convincing these wholesale traders to determination to a antithetic determination truthful that this marketplace nether the municipal limits could beryllium renovated. Now, that we person finished work, the agents and traders who person present moved to a backstage abstraction are not consenting to travel present though we are acceptable to connection the shops for a precise debased rent. Retailers who are operating from present consciousness that lawsuit footfall has reduced. Efforts are being taken by the selling section to prosecute the section nationalist and besides the section vendors to utilise the space,” helium added.
