AIADMK members walk out over Salem flower market's new lease processes

Salem: Salem's civic body saw a unique protest when AIADMK councillors, led by opposition leader N. Yadavamoorthy, left the City Municipal Corporation meeting recently, alleging malpractices in the leasing procedure of the VOC Flower Market complex. The meeting was chaired by Mayor A. Ramachandran, Deputy Mayor M. Saradha Devi, and Corporation Commissioner M. Elangovan.

The AIADMK raised the concern over the corporation’s strategy to lease flower market shops directly to vendors. The market was constructed during the AIADMK’s regime under the Smart City project. It was earlier leased to a private party. The party has departed, so the corporation announced new tenders and decided to handle the leasing itself.

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As per the AIADMK councillors, vendors have been asked to pay up Rs 8 lakh in advance and pay Rs 20,000 as monthly rent as well. They said that it is impossible for small flower sellers who have been in the floral business in the market for several years to pay such a huge amount.

Assistant Commissioner K. Vediyappan explained that the private lessee quit midway, so the corporation took over the shops. However, the Madras High Court has issued a stay order on the new plan.

The opposition leader said that there is no transparency in the new leasing method, and it may cause an annual loss of Rs 8 crore. The AIADMK member left the meeting after heated arguments.