Business Time for Mat Weavers

With the rising mercury, the demand for khus khus mats has increased manifold. Khus khus mat is made of roots of Bena plant and has the capacity to retain water for a long time. Mats and screens made of khus khus are sprinkled with water to keep rooms cool in summer.

Arund 200 Dalit families of the district have been making khus khus products to eke out a living since long. Members of the families are now busy collecting roots of Bena plants, which are available in riverside areas of Mahakalapada, Rajnagar, Pattamundai and Rajkanika, to make khus khus mats.

“After uprooting Bena plants, we dry the roots and make mats from them,” said Sarbeswar Jena of Patarpur village. Jena is into making of khus khus products for many years.

During the British rule, the demand of the khus khus mats was quite high. Due to non-availability of electricity, the Britishers, landlords and the rich used khus khus mats in summer. But after the advent of air-conditioners, the demand for khus khus took a nosedive, said Balabhadra Jena (78), another mat weaver of Pattamundei. “We make mats during summer only. But those sell at dismally low prices,” he added.

Khus khus mats have a loyal client base who prefer those to air-conditioners as the former is eco-friendly and less expensive.

However, shortage of hands has hit the business hard. “Making mats from khus khus is a seasonal business for which youths of our families are not willing to continue their forefathers’ job. This is the reason why we are not getting young people for weaving khus khus mats,” said Manoj Jena, a weaver. “This summer, we got orders from some banks and offices in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts,” he added.