Koyambedu COVID-19 cluster: TN CM blasts vendors for ‘refusing to move out’

Kerala, Andhra Pradesh have blamed Koyambedu cluster for their new cases

koyambedu ani People at the Koyambedu vegetable market on April 25 | Twitter handle of ANI

On Wednesday, as the traders, merchants and industrialists in Tamil Nadu were listening to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the liquidity package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami broke his silence on the Koyambedu market COVID-19 fiasco.

Palaniswami, to everyone’s surprise, squarely shifted the blame on to the vendors of fruits, flowers and vegetables for the Koyambedu market cluster. Palaniswami was addressing district collectors through videoconference from the secretariat and his speech was aired on television soon after the Union finance minister’s press conference in Delhi. Palaniswami, who is portrayed as the saviour of the state, seemed to have expressed his government’s inefficiency in controlling the massive spike in Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 infections.

Accusing the merchants in the Koyambedu market complex of non-cooperation, Palaniswami said that the merchants did not listen to several requests from Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, the Chennai Corporation and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). The chief minister said all the social distancing norms were flouted at Koyambedu and most of them who visited the market were not wearing masks.

“They did not wish to go to the market set up by the government outside the city. The chief secretary held a talk with them on April 6, asking them to stand by the government decision to shift to the temporary market at Thirumazhisai. However, the trade representatives at the market complex refused to accept, saying it would lead to a business loss,” Palaniswami said during the meeting with the district collectors. The first case of COVID-19 from Koyambedu was reported on April 24, soon after which every vendor there was asked to undergo tests.

Palaniswami also cited reasons like congested areas and crowded lanes in Chennai as the reason for the COVID-19 spread. “As far as Chennai is concerned, the reason for the virus spread is high number of people and congested areas with narrow lanes. About 26 lakh people live in slum areas in the city,” Palaniswami pointed out.

“Overcrowding and congestion is nothing new to the Koyambedu market. It will always be crowded. The chief minister has shifted the blame on us. We have already lost our livelihood. There are different groups within the market complex. If the government had suggested ways for us, we would have definitely agreed,” says one of the vegetable vendors at the Koyambedu market. In fact, he points out that there was overcrowding in the market on April 25, a day before Tamil Nadu’s ‘lockdown within the lockdown’ began. In fact, the chief minister, who pointed out various reasons for the coronavirus spread, did not mention about the government’s decision of lockdown within the lockdown as the reason for overcrowding in the Koyambedu market on a single day.

“It is true that the traders did not listen to the government’s repeated requests to shift the market, citing their livelihood. But the government has the administrative control. The government could have taken strict action, as the Epidemic Act is in force now. It only shows the inefficiency of the government,” opined senior journalist S.P. Lakshmanan. Apparently, it was only on May 1 that the government realised that Koyambedu has turned into a mega cluster and appointed former health secretary J. Radhakrishnan as the special nodal officer for Chennai Corporation to control the spread of coronavirus.

Ironically, Palaniswami, just hours before first phase of the lockdown ended, had said that it was the rich who “imported” COVID-19 to Tamil Nadu by visiting the state. Palaniswami even said “the number [of cases] would come down to zero in the next three days,” in mid-April. He made this statement immediately after talking with the district collectors.

Sources in the secretariat say that the chief minister was very upset as every district collector pointed at the Koyambedu cluster for the increase in number of COVID-19 cases in their respective districts. Sources say even the neighbouring states like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have started pointing fingers at the Koyambedu cluster for the new positive cases in those states.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu might soon touch the 10,000 mark in number of COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu reported 509 cases of COVID-19, taking the total tally of infected persons to 9,227. In Chennai alone, 380 new cases were reported on Wednesday and the total number in Chennai is 5,262. As of Wednesday, the total number of active cases stood at 6,984.