Firemen on the rounds at Koyambedu market to prevent cluster redux

One of them was the fire and rescue personnel of Koyambedu fire station. They were involved in sanitising the entire premises during the lockdown and it continues till date, even after the vegetable market has been reopened for business.

“It takes at least two hours to sanitise the entire premises. Since the entire loading and unloading gets over by 9 am, we have the rest of the day to sanitise the complex. If we get any other emergency calls, we would attend it first and then return to the complex,” said S Rajendran, station officer.

A five-member team would reach the CMDA premises with a fire tender, where the tank with 9,000-litre capacity is filled with sanitiser. From there, the team heads straight to the market complex to begin the sanitisation work. Rajendran said that the complex looks much cleaner now and more hygienic than before since the operations are limited and retail is not allowed. “Conversancy workers remove the waste immediately. I hope the market remains the same even after the retail sale resumes,” he said. It may be noted that flower and fruit markets have been opened for business yet.

KWMC is one of the largest perishable goods market complex in Asia. Spread over an area of 295 acres, the complex has about 3,100 shops out of which 1,000 are wholesale shops and 2,000 retail shops.