With the newly constructed Nethaji Vegetable and Fruit Market complex on R.K.V. Road in Erode unable to accommodate the 700-plus traders, the Corporation is planning to establish an integrated vegetable and fruit market complex near the new bus terminal at Solar Punjai Lakkapuram.
The market, located on R.K.V. Road alongside textile showrooms, commercial establishments and provisional stores in large numbers, was originally built in 1992 with a capacity of 580 shops.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, shops in the market were shifted to the Corporation Central Bus Terminal in 2020 and later to the V.O.C. Park Ground premises, where around 800 shops were constructed, and it has continued to function there till now.
As part of the Smart Cities Mission’s area-based development, the civic body undertook renovation of the market, and works were completed recently at ₹29.85 crore. But with the new complex only having 268 shops, traders expressed their unwillingness to occupy the new market.
A senior corporation engineer told The Hindu that the Corporation had mooted an idea to establish an integrated vegetable and fruit market complex on a 10-acre plot at Solar and held consultation meetings with traders recently. About 70% of wholesalers supported the idea since it would also provide adequate parking space for lorries and other vehicles. “It would also help reduce traffic congestion and develop the city outskirts,” the engineer added.
A proposal would soon be submitted to the government. If a new market complex came up at Solar, the market on R.K.V. Road would be used for commercial purposes, the engineer said.