Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has put the blame on the traders and vendors of the Koyambedu market complex for letting it to become the active COVID-19 cluster and for the sharpest increase in the number of affected cases in Chennai. 

While addressing the reporters on Wednesday after concluding the virtual meet with the district collectors, the Chief Minister said that the vendors of the Koyambedu market and the trade representatives had refused to shift the market in the alternative venue leaving the market to emerge as the epicenter for the virus spread which had now become a huge challenge for the state government in its fight against the pandemic. 

According to the Chief Minister, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), which operates the market, had held talks with the Koyambedu market vendors on March 29 during which the authorities instructed the vendors to temporarily shift the venue to restrict the grounds of the rapid spread. However, by claiming that they would be endured with the business loss, they refused to shift the market. 

The vendors hadn't agreed to shift the market to the alternative place installed by the government. The Chief Minister stated that the Chief Secretary had negotiated with the vendors on April 6 and advised them to shift the market and the vendors, by fearing the business loss, had refused to accept the government's decision. 

The Chief Minister further stated that Chennai has been witnessing high cases due to the population. The city has been housing over 2 million people who live in the slum areas and a lot of people live in the dense areas and these factors have been maximizing the virus spread in the city. As far as the relaxations are concerned, Edappadi Palaniswami said that the restrictions would be eased gradually if people extend their co-operation to the government by following the instructions and guidelines.

He added that if the vendors had listened to the instructions given by the authorities, the government could have prevented the Koyambedu market from emerging into the COVID-19 cluster. According to the reports, the Koyambedu market complex was shut down on May 4 after emerging as a cluster. 

The Chief Minister also took the prospect to iterate to the stranded migrant workers that they will be repatriated to their home states gradually. According to the reports, the state has sent nearly 9,000 migrant workers to their homes since last week through the special trains operated by the Indian Railways. 

Also read: 'If people do this, they will get relaxations' -Tamil Nadu CM EPS!