NORTH PARAVOOR: For handloom weavers in Karimpadam, a village outside North Paravoor Municipality, the month before Onam is one of the busiest times of the year. However, it may not be so for the second consecutive year. Every house in the village has looms and at least one member in each family weaves. They are the weavers of the famous Chendamangalam handloom. They were just recovering from the devastating floods of last year when yet another deluge has dampened their hopes of earning enough this Onam.
The 70-year-old Sukumaran who has been weaving since his teens has never witnessed such a hard time in his life. “Last year, the entire loom and yarn were swept away. As we do not know any other work, we still weave for our livelihood. With great struggle and help of the weaver’s society, we managed to restore the looms after last year’s flood. However, just when the Onam work was at its peak, another flood has ruined it for us,” Sukumaran said.
Heavy rain started on Wednesday night in North Paravoor. From their experience of last year, the majority of weavers shifted the looms to safer places. “It will take a week to reset the looms and start the work. By then, Onam sale will begin and we may not able to weave enough. Yarns get affected in rainy season and weaving is a difficult task. When it takes a day to weave a mundu during normal days, it takes three days in the rainy season,” said Indira, Sukumaran’s wife, who weaves at a small workshop close to their house.
The handloom sector in the district suffered a loss of around Rs 12 crore from August 15 to December 31 last year.
As many as 273 families make their living from weaving. Out of the five handloom societies, three societies comprising 273 looms were destroyed by the flood. The looms were revived with aid from organisations.