KOCHI: Beypore, which has been having a centuries-old run as a leading uru-making centre, seems to have entered the last leg. Reason: The state government’s failure to maintain and upgrade the infrastructure including the roads leading to the dhow-making facility in Kozhikode.
It is bad news not just for the local economy in terms of the jobs generated, but also for Kerala tourism as visitors always show an eagerness to see how dhows are made. Sayoos Wood Works, a leading dhow maker from Beypore, has already built four dhows from Iran, taking skilled carpenters from the coastal village to the West Asian country.
“We are currently engaged in completing the work on two urus at our Beypore facility, for which we got the contract before the Covid. We won’t build anymore urus from our Beypore facility,” said Sathyan Edathody of Sayoos.
A major reason he cites is the lack of infrastructure and modern amenities in Beypore. “Firstly, we can’t bring cranes and big trucks carrying timber to our unit through the narrow roads. Further, the roads are broken and so muddy that no foreign customer wants to walk through them,” said Sathyan. The four dhows he is building in Iran for Qatar-based customers together cost Rs 12 crore.
“The money should have come to Kerala, but it has gone to Iran,” he said. But for the 15-16 carpenters from Kerala, all other labourers were from Iran’s Kish Island, where the dhows are being built. Uru has a historic significance for Kerala. Some 800 years ago, these ‘pathemaris’ used to transport spices and condiments to the Arab countries. South India Regional Guides’ Association of Kerala general secretary Alex Thomas said its members visited the uru-making unit in Beypore recently following a seminar on the ‘Heritage Trail of Thalassery’.
“We were shocked to hear that they are shifting their base out of India due to poor support,” said Thomas. He said the state government should hold a discussion with the uru makers. “It will help retain the skilled craftsmen and talent in India. It will be an added asset to the Malabar region’s tourism potential,” the association said in a letter to the state tourism department. Calicut Chamber of Commerce & Industry Export Grievance Cell head Munshid Ali said a lack of proper coordination between various government departments is the main reason for the shift of Beypore’s dhow makers to countries such as Iran.
“The public works department would say it (dhow making) comes under the tourism department; the tourism department would say it comes under the heritage department and the heritage department would say that it is the job of the ports department, and so on. And people do not have the patience to run from one department to the other,” Ali said. “They will just pack up and go”.