Sandeep Dwivedy
Post News Network
Cuttack, Feb 5: Bamboo artisans have been an integral part of the silver city for ages. With bamboo being their only means of livelihood, they have been struggling to make ends meet lately particularly due to the fluctuating demand for their products.
Most of these artisans belong to the Telugu community and have migrated from Andhra Pradesh. Both the men and women are engaged in making bamboo products like Dala (round basket), Phula Dala (flower basket), Kula (hand husker), Bichona (hand fan), Jhudi (basket), Jhadu (broom) and various other materials commonly used in households and during marriages.
However, many bamboo products which once fetched them a good price have lost their appeal owing to an influx of plastic and fibre products in the market.
These artisans source their raw material from Mahanadi area depot, with each bamboo cane costing them `200. However, taking conveyance and other charges into account, each bamboo eventually ends up costing nearly `250. Owing to the time-consuming making process, it takes two days to make 10 bamboo baskets. Their daily earnings do not exceed `300-400 on a usual basis, from which they also have to figure out their daily expenses. Decreasing demand for bamboo products in the silver city has made the life of the artisans miserable. Life for these artisans becomes even worse when demand for bamboo products goes down drastically, particularly during summers when they barely manage `100 per day.
“Normally, we earn about `200 to `300 per day. There is no longer a market for our hand-made bamboo products as plastic is spelling doom for us,” said M Mohan, a bamboo artisan.
“Making household products from bamboo has become a part of our life and we have never thought of changing our profession,” said M Umadevi, another artisan.
However, despite several difficulties, they keenly look forward to the festive season hoping for a surge in their sales to earn a decent livelihood. “Hope is the only way we can survive,” said M Maheswar, a bamboo artisan.
