Chennai: Pallavaram santhai, a weekly market famous for good bargains, is now thriving with products that survived the recent deluge.
The December floods submerged many homes and damaged furniture, refrigerators, television sets and other household goods, all of which are now flooding the weekend street markets.
Residents from the suburbs of Tambaram and Tiruneermalai, who were among the biggest sufferers of the deluge, are bringing in damaged goods to the market, ranging from daybeds to dining sets; clocks to clothing and table fans to television sets.
Raja, a hawker in the market, said, “We used to bring in goods worth Rs 1,000-2,000 every week, but because of the deluge, the products coming in for the market has quadrupled.”
Agreeing with Raja, another vendor added: “As the deluge hit areas are near the market, owners themselves set up shops to sell their damaged items.”
One such, Anbarasu, from Chromepet said, “I tried to sell some of my household items affected by the deluge through several online platforms, but got a poor response. I finally decided to come to this market as a last resort.”
“Although the price for the products is slightly less in this market, the products are sure to be sold,” said another owner-cum seller, adding, “I sold my wooden bed frame which was slightly damaged for Rs 3,000. It was worth between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000.”
Buyers at the santhai are also picking up deluge-hit products. One of them said, “Yes, these are water-logged products, but they are available at throw away prices and I don’t want to miss them.”
Another consumer added, “Electronic goods retrieved from the deluge are quite tricky, but others such as furniture and utensils have quite some life left in them.”
A retailer of electronic goods in the santhai argued that it is better to sell the products as spare parts than as a whole item. In this way one can get more money. “I purchased a handset for Rs 2,500. I sold its parts for spares for Rs 4,000 in the santhai.”
