Fewer shoppers and sharp rain dampened the festival sale at Koyambedu vegetable market

Last-minute shopping: People throng the Koyambedu flower market in Chennai on Wednesday, the eve of Deepavali. | Photo credit: M. VEDHAN.

Fewer customers and heavy rain on Wednesday dampened festival sales at the Koyambedu wholesale vegetable market.

Wholesalers said that with the decline in footfall since Tuesday evening, vegetable sales have fallen by 25%. Many retailers left the city for the festival.

However, despite the reduction in footfall, around 510 trucks carrying vegetables arrived at the market against the usual 470 trucks per day.

As the market will be closed for a day from Thursday evening on account of the Deepavali festival, traders are hoping to sell their shares.

Most vegetables in the wholesale market were priced between Rs 40-50 per kg, partly due to festive demand. However, several people thronged the flower market to do last-minute shopping ahead of the festival.

P. Sukumar, treasurer of Koyambedu Vegetable, Fruit and Flower Traders Association, said beans and pulses are among the high-value vegetables with wholesale prices ranging from Rs 80 to Rs 100 per kg and Rs 70 per kg respectively. One kg of green peas was sold for 200 rupees.

Prices of staple food items, including onions and tomatoes, have stabilized over the past few days. “More truckloads of tomatoes and potatoes arrived from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. By Thursday morning the number of arrivals will decrease,” he said.

Traders said waterlogging in and around the market complex was responsible for the decline in footfall from retailers and consumers during the monsoon season.