CHENNAI: Bamboo weaving has been a century-old profession for the squatters along the Wall Tax Road near Elephant Gate area. However, for the past six months, they have been living in fear of being evicted to tenements elsewhere. The weavers allege that the corporation wants to beautify the place and there were plans to widen the VOC road as well.
Paying no heed to dusty roads, loud vehicle noise and sewage stink from the Buckingham Canal, the 100 plus weavers in the area have guarded their livelihood with sheer grit. ‘’We were born and brought up here on this same platform and have been associated with this time-honored craft since our ancestors’ time,’’ says S Mahadevan (55), a weaver.
The weavers feel if they have to shift to tenements, they would not be able to sustain their livelihood as it would be hard to move the huge bamboo equipment. “This place is an identity for the bamboo weavers. Our ancestors established this by working hard for decades and we are continuing it. How can we start from scrap elsewhere?’’ questions G Dhanakoti (60), another weaver. She recalls that her ancestors were established bamboo weavers in the nearby Flower Bazaar area, a century ago. “When they were evicted to Elephant Gate 50 years ago, they were pushed to abject poverty and many even died,’’ she says.
The livelihood of the weavers depends on their everyday earnings. Working from 10 am to 8 pm every day, they make three mats every day and baskets, willows, dustpan, and even sticks for cotton-candy. One mat sells for Rs 600 while price of baskets painted in different colours ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 200.
Even though they live in crudely built shanties with plastic rooftops and poor civic amenities, they do not want to vacate for better living conditions. “We have lived here for decades now. If they give us ‘patta’, we ourselves will beautify the place as this is our home,’’ says 86-year-old S Sarasu, who is the oldest weaver there.
“The government has already demolished two huge buildings near where our hamlet begins and ours might be next anytime soon,’’ she says. There are about 20 families in the neighbourhood whose future is uncertain.
S Purusothaman, (62), a squatter there, is not formally employed for over a decade now. He helps the women by chopping the big bamboo trunks to slivers for them to weave. ‘’We don’t want to be evicted but just want the people of the city to know that ‘we exist and we weave bamboo’ here,’’ he says.
The long hours of work only fetch them money sufficient to make ends meet. ‘’Despite the low income, we have saved enough to send our children to school, hoping that they will one day become first-time graduates,’’ says Purusothaman.
In Elephant Gate, the age-old bamboo weaving art is known and has been sustained by generations till now. However, the next generation has moved away from it. Now a dark shadow looms large on what will happen to the decades-old practice when there is nobody to pass it to.
When Express tried to reach the corporation authorities to inquire about the status of eviction, they were unavailable for comments.