Crisis of Assamese traditional clothes in Rongali Bihu

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: After the Assam Chief Minister announced the ban on power loom-produced Gamosa and Mekhela Sador, the market in Guwahati felt a major crisis of Assamese traditional clothes on the eve of Rongali Bihu. Although many shopkeepers supported the move of the government, many others also expressed the concern that most customers cannot afford to buy expensive hand loom products.

Some shopkeepers informed that the producers are able to supply only 10 to 15 percent of Assamese traditional clothes which is not sufficient to cater to the customers during this Bihu season. They complained that the government should have issued a notice regarding the ban at least five or six months before, which would help them in keeping a sufficient stock for the Rongali Bihu. Now they are facing a crisis of clothes in the market.

In this regard, a hand loom official said, “We had seized a plenty of power loom-produced Gamosas and Mekhela Sadors, but we had to return them to Kolkata, since we have no laboratory system for checking clothes. We regret the situation created by the crisis of traditional clothes during this Bihu. We are discussing with the authorities about making power loom products in Assam in the upcoming days. However, the customers should be aware of the duplicacy of products, since most customers consider power loom clothes to be hand loom products and get deceived very often.”