Shital Pati, a kind of cooling floor-mat made from cane, has transformed the lives of the women and their families in Sunamganj.
The women, after being done with daily household chores, now spend busy time weaving the mats and earning some much needed cash.
Zanzail, a village near Tanguar Haor, is leading the district in producing Shital Pati. Sabitri Rani Kar, Binodini Kar, Hemlata Kar and Bishakha Kar and many other women are now earning about Tk2000-3000 a month just weaving mats.
The cane plants, locally known as 'murta', is collected from various villages of Tahirpur and then made into beautiful mats by the women and girls.
A non-government organisation is providing necessary trainings and financial support to the women creating an alternative source of income for them.
Depending on the design and quality, it takes about 3-5 days to weave a Shital Pati. Including the cost of raw materials, labour and production, about Tk300 is spent after each mat, which are then sold from Tk800-1000.
Shyamol Kar of Zanzail said: “Women of the village used to spend idle time in the evening. But now they are also contributing to the family's earnings.”
Ranjit Kar of the same village said the men usually go out to buy the cane plants, which are then kept under water for several days. Later cane fibre, the basic material of the mats, is extracted from the plants.
A recent visit to Zanzail village had found many women spending busy time weaving the mats.
Umesh Chandra Kar, another resident said: “The villagers previously had no other income source. Being residents of Haor area, we also do not have much cultivable land. Many people would go to the cities to seek work. But now we are doing well because of the Shital Pati business.”
A mat maker Hemlata Kar, 45, however, said the production of the cane plants has declined due to climate change.
“Usually murta is produced in the Bengali months of Ashwin and Karthik. But now weather is changing and it is hampering the production. We sometime struggle to get our raw materials.”
Assistant Project Officer of IUCN, an NGO working in the Tanguar Haor area, Mohd Mehedi Hasan said: “The villagers are greatly depended on the Haor. And during natural calamities they suffer a lot. But now with the Shital Pati making, they have been able to rise above the extreme poverty line.”
Inspired, Union Parishad Chairman of Dakkhin Sripur urged the government to extend support and provide easy loan to the mat makers, so that Shital Pati can be exported in near future.