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Furnace boon for potters

Jorhat, Oct. 24: For about 30 potters of Kathalbari Kumar gaon on the western outskirts of Jorhat two major festivals — Durga Puja and Diwali — have lit up their lives as they have been able to produce and sell more earthen lamps and other products this year.

Three new furnaces — under a Union government scheme by the district rural development agency (DRDA) — having a raised plinth and a roof, in the village have come as a boon for the traditional potter families.

Bubul Bora, a potter, said the new furnaces have helped 30-odd families, out of a total of 80 potter families still carrying on making pottery.

Bora said the furnace built on a raised platform, was large in size to bake more pottery products at one time. He said the furnace would last for a longer period of time and work could be carried out during the rainy season as there was a roof and there would be no waterlogging. Earlier, heavy rains used to wash down the furnaces as they were built at a lower level.

Another potter, Bhai Kalita, said there was much more demand for earthen products like plates, small cups, bowls, dhunabati (small incense containers) and other utensils during Durga Puja and the other festivals that follow. However, the potters could not supply to the market as the traditional furnaces could produce much less as they were smaller in size.

Though both the potters did not want to disclose the exact number of pottery items sold and the increase in the produce, they said about 30 potter families have supplied over a lakh items to the market in the past two months. Family members of potters, including women, get involved in the process of making the products starting from preparing the clay paste and moulding the clay, to assisting the burning of the clay.

Another resident of the potters’ village, Dijen Kalita, said another important factor was the availability of raw material (clay soil), which if not found in the vicinity of the village, increases the cost of production leading to high prices affecting sales.

Assistant project officer (DRDA Jorhat) Indra Bordoloi said the three furnaces were built at a cost of Rs 7 lakh under the improved kiln system project, funded under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana.

He said the beneficiaries had been divided into three clusters with each cluster allotted one furnace.

Bordoloi added that the DRDA would fund more such projects to boost traditional methods used to make objects of art and culture like handicrafts and so on.