VELLORE: The people in Gudiyattam Assembly constituency once again seem to cry louder for setting up of a textile park to revive the handloom sector facing extinction.
In about 20 years, the sector has suffered the worst damage with more than 70 per cent looms disappearing.
The deafening clattering sound that rent the air in the streets, including Pavadithope, Kichanurpet, Kaliampatti and Pudupettai, is hard to hear now as the number of looms have dropped due to various factors including poor patronage.
Now, only around 10,000 looms are still running in the hub which is known for manufacturing lungis.
“Since 1999, the handloom business has been suffering due to many reasons. Poor patronage from the government side is one among them. As much as seventy per cent of handlooms have disappeared, with many opted to power loom,” said GS Arasu, a handloom weaver.
The goods and services tax (GST) ambitiously rolled out by the Centre has also come as blow to the poor weavers. According to Arasu, around 30 hand loom weavers' societies are on the verge of closure.
Once the sector was providing employment to several thousands, but now only 10,000 families and 20,000 labourers are engaged in lungi manufacturing.
The plea for setting up a textile park to give boost to hand loom has been put forth since the early 90s.
Arasu said that the project was about to take wings in 1999 but the change of regime led it to gather dust.
Another major demand of the people in Gudiyattam Assembly segment, reserved for Dalits, is construction of a ring road to ease congestion in the town.
As thousands of trucks pass through the arterial roads of the heart of the town, traffic snarls are common scene, disrupting smooth flow of vehicles. The ring road is suggested to begin from Gandhi Nagar in Gudiyattam to touch Kannigapuram on Pernambut main road.
“If a ring road can be constructed, it will resolve the issue traffic in the town. Trucks from various places are passing through the town leading to traffic jam more often,” said M Muruganantham, a resident of Rajakuppam.
Once described as mini-Sivakasi for its concentration of match box manufacturing units, Gudiyattam is reduced to its skeleton now. The match box industry has suffered the worst and gasping for breath.
So is the case with the beedi manufacturing units in the town.
The candidates in the fray are Kaspa R Moorthy, AIADMK, Kathavarayan, DMK, and Jayanthi Padmanabhan of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhaga (AMMK).
Jayanthi lost the position of MLA after she was disqualified along with 17 other legislators owing allegiance to TTV Dhinakaran.