Garbage piled up near Karimedu market on New Jail Road in Madurai on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: S_James more-in The Karimedu wholesale fish market is abuzz with people, fish and flies from 10 p.m. into the early hours of the following day. Traders, who own commission stores, work tirelessly, cutting deals and selling their stock of almost all varieties of fish. The staggering number of trucks that unload commodities each night is symbolic of the boisterous trade that takes place here. Fish arrives all the way from Goa, Mangaluru, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Rameswaram, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari and later transported to Theni, Kumili, Palani, Tiruchi and Dindigul. Price varies from ?40 to ?700 as export quality marine food is available here, the traders proudly claim. Due to the high sales and large volume of trade, much of the garbage is dumped outside the market and this is a major cause for concern, says K. Ramar, a daily wage labourer. “Every night, lorries bring tonnes of fish in several hundred ice boxes made of thermocol. After the fish is sold, boxes are strewn around the two dumper bins opposite the market. It is common to spot mounds of unsegregated waste here,” he says. Weekends are the busiest at the market, say workers. There are at least 50 wholesale commission stalls, 100 retail outlets that function from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 200 small scale outlets that are used to cut the fish inside the market. The Corporation has given permission for a total of 80 stalls that regularly pay rent between ?1,000 and ?1,500 based on their size, says S. Rajesh, another worker. “In the weekends, it is impossible to step into the market and make a purchase. Fish parts are thrown all over the place and scales are seen everywhere. Though the area is thoroughly swept after 2 p.m., the entire market could deal with better hygiene,” he says. During monsoon, puddles are seen outside the market, a major cause for stench, dispersion and disease. Residents around the market have repeatedly complained to the Corporation about traffic and stench but no major steps have been taken to ease the situation, says S. Rajamuthu, a resident. “The Corporation must place more dumper bins or move the market away from such a thickly populated area,” he says. According to a source in the Engineering department of the Corporation, the civic body has planned to construct a fish market near Virattipathu at a cost of ?3 crore, with half the funds contributed by the National Fisheries Development Corporation. A grant of ?1.20 crore from Tamil Nadu government and ?30 lakh loan from the Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure development Corporation are also sanctioned for the project. “The local body has already submitted a detailed project report to all stakeholders. The Fisheries Development Corporation has sought changes and delay is caused by pending approval of funds,” he said. He added that traders were opposed to the site saying that the entrance was too small. “We have finalised the location and added the proposed alternatives. It is only a matter of time for the work to begin. We have also begun educating the traders about source segregation,” said a source in the Health department.

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