[Reader-list] Fwd: Fish vendors planning stir

[T Peter]

Fish vendors planning stir

By Meera Manu - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

17th June 2013 11:51 AM

   - Photos<http://newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/Fish-vendors-planning-stir/2013/06/17/article1638996.ece#tabs-275876-1>


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The scarcity of fish in the city owing to the ongoing trawling ban may
become acute with fish vendors at Connemara Market in Palayam readying to
resort to a tougher way of protest, if their demands are not met.

 The vendors, under the aegis of the Connemara Market Janakeeya Samithi,
have submitted a proposal to the City Corporation asking for better
facilities for them to do business, after taking out a protest against
allocating space for Kudumbashree units to exhibit and sell handicrafts in
the market.

 With the onset of the monsoon, the fish vendors are facing more
difficulties, including issues like waste management and drainage problems.

 “If the facilities are not provided immediately, the vendors will not pay
the daily floor rent. The women fish vendors are the worst to suffer out of
this lackadaisical attitude on the part of the Corporation. When they are
much interested in allotting space for the Kudumbashree unit, the needs of
the vendors are neglected,” said Maglin Peter, convenor of Connemara Market
Janakeeya Samithi and state secretary of Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali
Federation.

 A toilet block with rooms to take rest built in the market spending a Rs
10 lakh is yet to be opened. Maglin said that even after holding a
discussion with Mayor K Chandrika soon after staging a protest, nothing had
happened.

 While the Samithi is not against allocating space for Kudumbashree
upstairs, the Corporation says that would not be possible as only a
semi-permanent structure is ideal for the market, as the project of giving
a facelift to the market in association with TRIDA and INKEL is still on.

 Meanwhile, the trial run is taking place at the biogas plant built with
the KSUDP (Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project)  funding. The
plant, which has the capacity to process two tonnes of waste per day, can
be a solution to the waste woes of the fish vendors. “The entire garbage
generated in the market can be processed in the plant. The process of
installing a generator is going on, after which it will turn fully
functional,” said Palayam Rajan, Welfare Standing Committee chairman and
Palayam ward councillor.