Weaving industry facing closure in B'baria
Wednesday, 8 August 2007
Our Correspondent
BRAHMANBARIA, August 7: The age-old traditional weaving units at Bancharampur and Nabinagar upazilas of the district are now on the verge of closure due to price hike of yarn, lack of capital, unstable market situation and smuggling of Indian textiles.
Once upon a time high quality 'shari', 'gamcha', 'lungi' and towel from Brahmanbaria were very popular and on demand across the country. But those golden days are now gone.
The weavers' profit has gradually been minimised due to continuous hike of prices of cotton, yarn and other raw materials. They have to face competition with the smuggled Indian fabrics also, as these items are frequently sold in the locality at low prices.
One of the craftswomen told the FE that nowadays they can earn only Tk 500 to 600 by weaving gamchas from 24 bundles of yarn, whereas they could earn Tk 1,200 to 1,400 previously.
As a result, the weavers are quite unable to maintain the minimum daily expenses of their families with the meagre income. Most of them have abandoned their traditional occupation, and engaged themselves in other professions for the sake of survival.
Sources said, some 70 per cent of the local weaving units have so far been closed, leaving nearly 18,000 weavers and associated workers unemployed.
Presently, more than 1,200 handloom factories of the area have stopped operation due to incursion of recent flood and incessant rain. Therefore, most of the local weavers have become jobless, and are passing hard times in starvation and frustration.
The locals said that the government can still revive the handloom industry by disbursing easy and interest-free loans among the marginal weavers, ensuring yarn supply at fair prices to them, and preventing smuggling of Indian fabrics into the country.
BRAHMANBARIA, August 7: The age-old traditional weaving units at Bancharampur and Nabinagar upazilas of the district are now on the verge of closure due to price hike of yarn, lack of capital, unstable market situation and smuggling of Indian textiles.
Once upon a time high quality 'shari', 'gamcha', 'lungi' and towel from Brahmanbaria were very popular and on demand across the country. But those golden days are now gone.
The weavers' profit has gradually been minimised due to continuous hike of prices of cotton, yarn and other raw materials. They have to face competition with the smuggled Indian fabrics also, as these items are frequently sold in the locality at low prices.
One of the craftswomen told the FE that nowadays they can earn only Tk 500 to 600 by weaving gamchas from 24 bundles of yarn, whereas they could earn Tk 1,200 to 1,400 previously.
As a result, the weavers are quite unable to maintain the minimum daily expenses of their families with the meagre income. Most of them have abandoned their traditional occupation, and engaged themselves in other professions for the sake of survival.
Sources said, some 70 per cent of the local weaving units have so far been closed, leaving nearly 18,000 weavers and associated workers unemployed.
Presently, more than 1,200 handloom factories of the area have stopped operation due to incursion of recent flood and incessant rain. Therefore, most of the local weavers have become jobless, and are passing hard times in starvation and frustration.
The locals said that the government can still revive the handloom industry by disbursing easy and interest-free loans among the marginal weavers, ensuring yarn supply at fair prices to them, and preventing smuggling of Indian fabrics into the country.