It was half past noon and Seenu, a young labourer and two of his colleagues chatting beneath the shade of a tree at the Koyambedu market here, one of largest in the country for vegetables, flowers and fruits, decide to call it a day and go home.
"There is not much work these days. Our earnings have taken a hit as the arrival of trucks carrying supplies is diminishing each day," said Seenu adjusting his 'lungi' cloth piece that served as a mask.
Toughened physically by hard work, the labourers at the market here are raring to go, but with arrivals dwindling due to COVID-19 curbs, their work has shrunk leaving them a worried lot.
The Koyambedu market, spread over 295 acres became functional during the first tenure (1991-96) of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and it has 3,000 plus vegetable, fruit and flower shops and is one of the biggest in India for perishable commodities.
"To unload (from trucks) and deliver (at shops) a bag of 100 cocounts we get Rs 15 and the rate changes according to the commodity. But the arrivals, be it vegetables or fruits, have dipped by more than half," Seenu, the more articulate among the three told P T I.
Normally, they used to earn wages ranging between Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 and sometimes upto Rs 1,500 "on a good day," he said adding these days "we have to be happy even if we get Rs 500 a day."
"The market used to be abuzz with activity and we used to get extra work as well besides running errands. Today you can barely see such hectic work," Seenu lamented.
"Most of our colleagues have gone back to their villages ahead of the lockdown last month apprehending lack of work opportunities," he said.
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Pointing to some from the market too testing positive for coronavirus, he said "we don't know to what extent this development will have an impact on our work...but a growing concern is real."
Putting up a brave front, his friend Siva pitched in saying "adequate work or not and notwithstanding factors like people getting infected here, we will continue our work against all odds as market is our home."
A loadman who used to consume alcoholic beverages daily, said since booze was now not available he has become "irritable" these days and was doing whatever work came his way with a great deal of difficulty.
According to rough estimates provided by labourers and vendors, presently there are about 1,000-1,500 workers out of the total strength of approximately 11,000 labourers including those who work for specific shops, both retailers and wholesalers.
Market Management Committee Licensed Merchants Association President, S Chandran concurred with the labourers' version that supplies have dwindled.
"From approximately 400 trucks a day of veggies alone, now the supplies have gone down to about 200 lorries," he noted.
Chandran, however, said the wages have "actually been doubled since only about 20 per cent of the labour force is now available...instead of Rs 15 a bag (before the outbreak of coronavirus) we now pay Rs 30."
The traders leader said on behalf of the merchants, free food -once a day- was also being provided, apart from increased wages to the workforce "for at least 1,000 labourers," despite they themselves feeling the pinch.
"These are tough times. We are the bridge between farmers, suppliers on the one side and consumers on the other side. We have not yet done the number crunching and feel that this is not the time to look into losses or calculate profits," he said.
A fruit dealer, Saravana, said not only labourers but all others who form the chain in the perishable commodity business have been affected.
As a huge container truck with cold storage facility meandered its way slowly into the market, the dealer got ready with his employees to unload it.
"The demand for fruits has nosedived. These are oranges imported from Egypt. Since bulk orders have diminished we are now fully dependent on small traders to exhaust stocks," he said.
Another dealer said as conferences and big ticket buffets were a "thing of the past," in star hotels in addition to closure of "regular dine-in business in restaurants," the demand for both fruits and vegetables have "naturally taken a hit."
Truck drivers, an intrinsic part of the market place had their own woes.
Shylendar, after traversing over 2,000 kilometres from Bhuj in Gujarat with a truck load of pomegranate for about three days, said authorities screening them at district/state borders was not a problem, but "a perception that we may be carriers of the contagion since we cross so many places" was disturbing.
"We keep telling people that we are careful and follow physical distancing, hygiene and cook our own food," the Gujarati driver said adding "we have to move on battling this perception."
M Manigandan, who arrived with a seven tonne consignment of plantain from Kulithalai in Karur district, said "while returning I take my truck empty since there are no consignments and this is eating into our meagre profits."
During pre-coronavirus pandemic times, he said they used to get "some cargo on our home bound trip too."
Traders like Babu pointed out that consequentially, freight charges have seen an increase due to a dip in traffic.
Since at least three vendors, besides a hairdresser in the vicinity have tested positive for the coronavirus, testing for people in the market place has been scaled up by Greater Chennai Corporation which has deployed a mobile testing van and also deputed health personnel for the exercise.
In the market, only 200 wholesale vegetable stores are likely to function effective Thursday as part of anti-COVID-19 measures to decongest the place which used to witness footfalls in thousands during pre-pandemicdays.
While about 1,000 veggie retailers are likely to operate from scattered locations in the city like open play grounds, an alternative location at Madhavaram in north Chennai is expected to become functional for fruit and flower traders.
The market gets supplies from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnatakabesides States including Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
