Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex (KWMC) is one of Asia's largest perishable goods market complex located at Koyambedu, Chennai. The market complex is spread over an area of 295 acres (1.19 km2). Inaugurated in 1996, the complex consists of about 3,100 shops,[1] including more than 1,000 wholesale shops and 2,000 retail shops. Of these, 850 are fruit shops.[2] It abuts the Poonamallee High Road and Nesapakkam Road and can be easily accessed from all parts of City.[3] In Phase I, a wholesale market for perishables was developed in an area of around 70 acres (280,000 m2) by constructing 3,194 shops. The market has two blocks for vegetable shops and one each for fruit and flower shops. In Phase II, a textile market[4] and in Phase III, a food grain market[5] have been planned to be developed in the complex.
The food grain market will be built on a seven to eight acres of land belonging to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, adjacent to the Koyambedu fire service station and opposite the vegetable market, and will have about 500 shops.[6]
With the wholesale market operating between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. and the retail market operating between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m., the market receives about 100,000 visitors and 500 to 600 vehicles every day.[1]
Developments
editThe Basic Infrastructure and Amenities Promotion Committee has approved an allocation of ₹ 336.3 million for augmentation and maintenance of the infrastructure, including stormwater drain network, in the market complex. The Market Management Committee will carry out the work which includes creation of new stormwater drains over 9 km long, widening of roads and concretisation of a 350-m road connecting Gates 7 and 14, which is being used by heavy vehicles to carry perishables to the market complex.[7][8] The market has over 100,000 visitors daily. On an average, 1,500 lorries and other heavy vehicles come to the market every day, bringing in vegetables, fruits and flowers.[9]
In 2012, the market was declared a green complex. As part of this, about 1,000 trees were planted on the market premises. The complex will also feature a landscape with a compound wall at a cost of ₹ 25 million, rainwater harvesting structures and solar lighting.[10]
Foodgrains market
editAn exclusive foodgrains market, the first such facility in the state, is under construction at the market complex at a cost of ₹ 690.7 million. It is being constructed in an area of 14.41 acres next to the existing wholesale vegetable market, with provision of godowns, parking space for trucks, public toilets, cement concrete roads, solar street lights, fire-fighting system, and water supply. It is expected to be opened by mid-2014.[11] It will have about 500 shops for wholesale business of food grains, except sugar, jaggery, dry chillies, tamarind, and edible oil items.[12]
Bio-methanation plant
editA bio-methanation plant at the market complex set by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) was inaugurated in 2006 at a cost of ₹ 55 million to generate power from vegetable and fruit waste collected from the wholesale market. The Biomethanation plant has a capacity to produce 2500 unit per day with 30 tons of Waste. The plant was operated by the Koyambedu Market Management Committee till 2008 and was put to disuse owing to machine repair. The plant was operational again from April 2011 but only for four months[13] and is awaiting Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation's (TANGEDCO) approval to supply electricity to the grid. The plant has the capacity to convert 30 tonnes of waste per day into 2,500 units daily. Of the nearly 150 tonnes of vegetable and fruit waste generated daily at the market, about 30 tonnes are segregated. A total of 1.75 acre has been allotted for composting 50 tonnes of waste. There are also plants to recycle banana stems.[14]
Parking
editThe market complex has a 7.46-acre open-space parking lot adjacent to the biomethanation plant, opened by the CMDA on 5 April 2013. It has a provision to park 400 heavy vehicles at any given point of time.[9]
Transportation
editThe market is located adjacent to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus and the CMBT and Koyambedu metro stations of the Chennai Metro and is thus well connected by both bus and rail transportation.
Railway
edit
Koyambedu Metro station is a Metro railway station on the Line 2 of the Chennai Metro, which is one terminal of the current open metro line from Alandur. The station is among the elevated stations coming up along corridor II of the Chennai Metro, Chennai Central–St. Thomas Mount stretch. The station will serve the neighbourhoods of Koyambedu, Koyambedu vegetable market, and Koyambedu Private Bus Terminus. The station was constructed by Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited (CCCL), and attained its structural completion in December 2012. The consolidated cost of the station along with the stations of Arumbakkam, CMBT, Vadapalani and Ashok Nagar was ₹ 1,395.4 million.[15]
The station is an elevated station near Koyambedu vegetable market. The station has a capacity to handle about 23,000 passengers an hour. Elevation of the platforms will be about 15 m from the ground level and the total length of the platforms will be 140 m.[16] Along with Chennai Central and Alandur stations, the station will have a 230-kV receiving sub-station for power supply from the state's electricity grid.[17] The sub-station will supply 25-kV of electricity to the trains and 33-kV to the stations.[18]
Along with Ashok Nagar and Vadapalani Metro stations, Koyambedu Metro station will be developed by leasing out space either for shops or office spaces. As part of fire safety measures, underground water tanks of 50,000 to 100,000 litre capacity will be set up at the station.[19]
The station lies within 1 km from the Koyambedu Junction. The highways department has proposed a 1-km flyover that passes through Jawaharlal Nehru Road–Kaliamman Koil Street Junction. A skywalk has also been planned near the station across the Poonamallee High Road.[16] The skywalk will link Rohini theatre with the Koyambedu Metro station.[20]
COVID-19 Epicenter
editDuring the 2020 pandemic, Koyambedu Market became the epicenter of largest cluster of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Tamil Nadu.[21]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b Lakshmi, K. (23 October 2018). "Partial ban on lorries at wholesale market planned". The Hindu. Chennai: Kasturi & Sons. p. 2. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- ^ "Australian delegates visit Koyambedu". The Hindu. Chennai. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
- ^ "Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex". www.cmdachennai.gov.in. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ [1] Archived 2 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Textile market in Koyambedu
- ^ [2] Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Development of Wholesale Food-grains Market-Government of India
- ^ "Koyambedu to have separate market for foodgrains". The Times of India. 11 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
- ^ [3] Rs. 33 crore for improving Koyambedu market
- ^ Xavier Lopez, Aloysius (2 February 2012). "Works at Koyambedu market gain steam". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ a b Oppili, P.; Aloysius Xavier Lopez (7 April 2013). "Koyambedu market gets 7.46-acre paid parking lot". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ Lopez, Aloysius Xavier (16 November 2012). "City's favourite grocery goes green". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^ Mariappan, Julie (23 January 2013). "Koyambedu to house TN's first foodgrains market". The Times of India. Chennai. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ dhineshkumar, S. (18 March 2013). "Food grains complex construction takes off". The Deccan Chronicle. Chennai. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Lakshmi, K. (6 January 2013). "Ambitious project in disarray". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ Bio-methanation unit set to generate power
- ^ "Arumbakkam metro station almost complete". The Hindu. Chennai. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ^ a b Hemalatha, Karthikeyan; V Ayyappan (17 January 2013). "All roads to lead to metro stations". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Metro rail sets up units to power trains, stations to meet year-end deadline to start services". The Times of India. Chennai. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
- ^ "தயார் நிலையில் மெட்ரோ ரயிலுக்கான துணை மின் நிலையம்". Dinamani (in Tamil). Chennai. 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ Express News Service (30 October 2014). "Metro Rail Stations to Sport Snazzy Look". The New Indian Express. Chennai: Express Publications. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ^ Sekar, Sunitha (13 August 2014). "Skywalks for three Chennai Metro stations". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ "Coronavirus | What turned Koyambedu, Chennai's popular wholesale complex market, into a COVID-19 hotspot? - The Hindu".
External links
edit
- Koyambedu Market
- Muthiah, S. (2004). Madras Rediscovered. East West Books (Madras) Pvt Ltd. p. 312. ISBN 81-88661-24-4.