BALURGHAT: As dawn breaks each day in Uttarpara village of Mangolpur under Kushmandi block in South Dinajpur, Immanuel Tudu, Rosina Tudu and many others settle down on their verandas with bundles of bamboo. With practiced hands, they split the bamboo into thin strips and begin weaving baskets, winnowing trays (kulo), sieves (chalni) and other utility items in different shapes and sizes. For more than a hundred tribal families in the locality, bamboo craft is not just a tradition but the sole means of livelihood.
Despite working throughout the year, the earnings from selling bamboo products barely sustain their daily needs. Though several small and big rural markets are held across North and South Dinajpur and Malda districts, the demand for bamboo items remains limited locally. Instead, most of the products made in Uttarpara find their way to markets in neighbouring Bihar.
Traders from Bihar regularly buy bamboo goods in bulk from the village, transporting truckloads to Bihar where they are sold at much higher prices. According to villagers, the products are marketed across a wide belt stretching from Kishanganj and Purnia to Sultanganj and Begusarai. However, the artisans receive only a fraction of the final selling price.
Ironically, although every block has an office of the Handicrafts department, none of the tribal artisans from Uttarpara has ever applied for loans or other government benefits. Kushmandi block’s Handicrafts officer, Amit Majumdar, said efforts would be made to reach out to the artisans so that they can avail government schemes. He also assured assistance if they wish to showcase and sell their baskets, sieves and winnowing trays at various state government fairs.
Villager Biren Mardi said bamboo work has been the livelihood of Uttarpara’s tribal families for generations.
Unaware of the Handicrafts department, he said government schemes involve too many formalities, adding that depending on Bihar traders does not feel like a loss.
Another resident, Abraham Hembrom, pointed out that while bamboo prices rise every year, traders are unwilling to increase the purchase rates of finished products. “Still, we continue making them because there is demand in
Bihar,” he said.
Echoing similar concerns, Lakshmi Hembram expressed her helplessness, saying the villagers lack the resources to transport their goods to Bihar markets themselves. “Even if traders sell our products there at higher prices, we have no option,” she said, summing up the quiet struggle behind the age-old craft.