JHARSUGUDA: The hill brooms, a major source of income for women of Talabira, Mundapada and Orampada villagers in Jharsuguda district, may soon be a thing of past.The broom is prepared from hill grass (thysanolaena maxima) that grows abundantly in the forest of Talabira village. But, with development of Talabira II and III mines, for which large-scale felling of trees and clearance of vegetation in the forests have already started, the vocation is under threat.Mundapada, predominantly inhabited by Munda tribe members, is a village with around 100 households which is dependent on forests only. In Mundapada, Talabira and Orampada, collection of hill grass and binding of brooms is a cottage industry with both men and women collecting the grass.
Binding is done solely by women. And more than 200 families in the villages are engaged in broom-making in an unorganised manner. As winter sets in, both men and women walk 15 to 20 km from their villages to collect wild grass from forest. Women dry and knit the grass into long pieces which are then tied back as broom.
A resident of Mundapada, Bhagirathi Munda said she has been involved in making brooms for more than 30 years now. While they keep a stock of brooms for self-use round the year until next season, they sell-off the rest which gets them a good profit. These brooms are popular in the region. Since it is difficult to get it round the year, people buy it in bulk.
While women move from house to house and sell the brooms directly to people at `25 to `35 per piece, traders also procure the brooms directly from them. But the traders offer only `10 to `15 even though they sell it at minimum `30 to `50. Though it is convenient than moving around with head load of brooms in the market, it is not commensurate with the hard work the women put in.“The trade is not as profitable as it used to be earlier but it is enough to support livelihood. We will continue to make these brooms as long as we have the forest,” says Bhagirathi. However, she does not know how long will the forest stand in wake of unabated felling of trees for the mining project.
COTTAGE INDUSTRY
The broom is prepared from hill grass that grows abundantly in the forest of Talabira
The vocation is under threat with development of Talabira II and III mines in villages