Fish traders joined the cleaning drive
Greek mythology character Hercules may have found some competitors in the city on Friday. Only that they did not divert two rivers to clean up the Augean Stables, as he had.But, members of the Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC), Siruthuli, personnel from the city police and the Rapid Action Force (RAF), workers of the Coimbatore Corporation and students began what appeared to be as tall a task as cleaning the Auguean Stables – the wholesale and retail fish markets at Ukkadam and also the bunds of the Big Tank. Fish traders too joined the drive.Commissioner of Police C.K. Gandhirajan inaugurated the drive. He said that the city should be rid of garbage as much as crime. That set the tempo for the programme of the day.The drive was carried out as part of the association’s Alagana Kovai project for a clean city. The latest effort to clean the fish market was a joint venture with Siruthuli, a public initiative to revive and conserve water resources.Appreciating the participation by various sections, RAAC vice-president G. Soundararajan said: “We have given re-usable plastic bags and bins to the markets to store the waste. This should help them prevent the dumping of fish waste all over the markets,” he said.
Siruthuli’s participation was significant in view of the fish and fruit waste being dumped into the Big Tank across the Perur Road.The wholesale fish market with 47 stalls where 70 tonnes of fish are sold every week, the retail market that has more than 10 stalls selling fish have been a huge major eyesore. The wholesale market is located near the lorry yard down the Palakkad Road and the retail market in front of the Ukkadam Bus Stand.“We have been selling fish for 20 years amid filth,” president of the Coimbatore District Fish Merchants Association H.S. Bawa said. “Now, we will sustain the efforts initiated by RAAC and Siruthuli.”
Siruthuli’s Managing Trustee Vanita Mohan said that even after two days of preparatory cleaning, ahead of the launch of the programme, the situation improved by only 50 per cent. Much more needed to be done to turn things around completely. Augean Stables are in mythology. The city’s fish markets are real.“This is the wholesale fish market for the entire district,” Mr. Bawa said, pointing at the scope for lack of hygiene if initiative and equipment for cleanliness were not available.
“From Monday to Saturday, 10 tonnes of fish come to the wholesale market every day. On Sunday alone, we get about 60 tonnes. These come from Chennai, Rameshwaram, Tuticorin, Pamban, Andhra Pradesh, Kochi and Kozhikode.”Mr. Bawa said retail traders from the market in front of the bus stand, elsewhere across the city and also Mettupalayam, Tirupur, Udhagamandalam and Pollachi got their daily stock from here. Nearly 2,500 hawkers who sold fish on bicycles across the district also got their stock from here.
