BELAGAVI: After going through a crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, a large number of people in the unorganised sector are staring at a bleak future again. The powerloom sector which produces the famous Shahpur sarees in huge quantities in Belagavi has been badly hit by the ongoing lockdown or semi-lockdown in various parts of the country.
The emergence of the COVID-19 second wave in the country and the subsequent lockdown of several places including markets in Mumbai and Delhi has taken its toll on Belagavi's traditional Shahpur saree industry.
According to a noted weaver Parashuram Dhage, who owns several powerlooms in Belagavi, the Centre's decision to export a major portion of yarn to other countries has severely affected the textile industry in the country.
"We need at least 4 lakh kg of yarn every day in Belagavi to produce 50,000 Shahpur sarees on powerlooms. A drastic rise of yarn price in the markets of Mumbai has put the weavers in a dilemma in Belagavi. The government should reduce the export of yarn and provide the same at lower rates to the local weavers," he said.
The weavers are also not getting the needed raw materials from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra to produce sarees ever since the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic there.
Since the second wave erupted in the country, particularly in Karnataka and Maharashtra, the production of Shahpur sarees in Belagavi has fallen by more than 80 per cent. The lives of more than 2 lakh people including labourers, weavers and others depending on this saree industry in Belagavi is getting affected, Dhage says.
A large number of businessmen selling Shahpur sarees had to shut down their business due to the restrictions imposed on them by the state government from April 21 to May 4.
Several leaders including Belagavi MLAs Abhay Patil and Anil Benake have appealed to the government to help the local traders, especially the businessmen selling Shahpur sarees, by allowing at least a few hours to market their products. Patil highlighted the crisis which the weavers and saree businessmen in Belagavi were facing due to the weekend lockdowns and other restrictions imposed due to COVID-19.
A saree businessman, Pramod Deshpande, in Belagavi did not have any objection to shutting his business during the weekend lockdown but wanted the government to allow businessmen like him to open garment shops at least for a few hours on weekdays to sell the large stocks of the Shahpur sarees.