KENDRAPARA: With the rising mercury, the demand for khas-khas mats has increased manifold. Khas-khas is made of roots of Bena tree and it has the quality to retain water for a long time. Products made of khas-khas are sprinkled with water to keep rooms cool in summer.
Since long at least 60 Dalit families of the district have been making khas-khas products to eke out a living. Members of the families are now busy collecting roots of Bena trees, which are available in riverside areas of Mahakalapada, Rajnagar, Pattamundei and Rajkanika, to make khas-khas mats. ‘‘After uprooting Bena trees, we dry the roots and make mats from them,’’ said Prahallad Jena of village Manakarpur. Jena is into making of khas-khas products for many years.
During the Raj period, the demand of the khas-khas mats was quite high. Due to non-availability of electricity, the Britishers, landlords and the rich used khas-khas mats in summer. But after the advent of air-conditioners, the demand for khas-khas took a nosedive, said Balabhadra Jena (78), a khas-khas mat-maker of Pattamundei.
‘‘We make mats during summer only, but these sell at dismally low prices,’’ said Prakash Jena, a khas-khas mat-maker.
‘‘For more than five decades we have been making mats from khas-khas. Some people are still preferring khas-khas products to air-conditioners as the former is eco-friendly and less expensive,’’ said Prasanta Jena, whose family is into khas-khas making for two generations.
However, shortage of hands has hit the business hard. ‘‘Making mats from khas-khas is seasonal for which youths of our families are not preferring to continue their forefathers’ job. This is the reason why we are not getting young people for binding khas-khas mats,’’ lamented Manoj Jena, a khas-khas product-maker.
‘‘This summer, we got orders from some banks and offices in Kendrapara and Jagatasinghpur districts,’’ said Manoj.