With the Koyambedu market cluster contributing to over 2,500 of 9,227 COVID-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday squarely blamed the vendors at the sprawling market for the emergence of the cluster, saying they “ignored” repeated advice from the top brass of the state administration.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the vendors refused to shift to an alternate place arranged by the state government as they were “worried about revenue loss” and continued to disregard repeated pleas from Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and Chennai City Police (CCP).
The Chief Minister also said it was “wrong” to say that the government did not take enough measures at the Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex (KWMC) to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as he suggested more than once that every word of advice by the administration fell into the deaf ears of the vendors.
“Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam held talks with the traders thrice asking them to shift to a place earmarked by the government as social distancing was not followed and too many people were coming into the market. But the vendors did not heed to any of the advice as they were worried about their revenue loss,” Palaniswami said, after a COVID-19 review meeting.
The Chief Minister pinned the blame on vendors more than once during his televised address saying they ignored the advice given to them during three review meetings that Panneerselvam conducted on the market complex and on other occasions.
The Koyambedu Market cluster is growing every passing day and has even spread to neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala where people who visited the market during the lockdown period have tested positive. The state government came under all-round attack for preventing the Koyambedu cluster, which has pushed the state’s tally beyond 9,000.
The Koyambedu cluster emerged when the state government was hoping to flatten the curve as the number of positive cases was reducing. KWMC has nearly 4,000 shops that sell vegetables, fruits, and flowers and witnesses a footfall of over 50,000 every day.