Madurai : For shoppers at Mattuthavani central vegetable market , buying vegetables has increasingly become an unpleasant exercise, with waterlogging , muddy roads, rotting waste, mosquitoes and stray cattle making movement difficult.




The market generates several hundred kilograms of waste every day. With no regular waste collection, vendors say they are forced to find other ways to dispose of it. “Waste gets dumped in empty areas of the market to clear the roads and front of shops as we await waste clearing,” said Rajkumar, a vendor at the market. Because of the volume generated, vegetable waste is also frequently dumped into nearby open water channels.




Sathaiyar water channel , already filled with waste from nearby restaurants, faces further blockages from vegetable waste generated at the market. The rotting waste obstructs water flow and causes severe overflows affecting residents of Mattuthavani. During rain, the overflow also worsens the slushy conditions inside the vegetable market.




For customers, uncollected waste creates another problem by attracting stray cattle and dogs into the market. “The uncollected waste also attracts stray cattle and dogs into the market, scaring away the customers and affecting sales,” said Satish, a regular customer. He recalled seeing a herd of cows pushing buyers aside and eating vegetables kept on display. “Without a proper gate or waste disposal methods, the conditions continue to deteriorate,” he said.




A senior Madurai corporation official said the market falls under the category of a bulk waste generator and is therefore required to dispose of its waste on its own. “Sanitation workers are regularly deployed to clean the roads and toilets, but waste pickup and disposal will not be done by the corporation,” the official said. The official urged vendors to use composting sites set up within the market premises to dispose of organic waste.