Wood carving industry in Saharanpur hit by riots

The recent violence in Saharanpur, which is a world-renowned wood carving hub, has come as a jolt to the traditional industry.

The annual value of the wood carving industry of Saharanpur is pegged at about Rs 400 crore and it supports the livelihood of about 150,000 artisans.

Since the district administration clamped curfew following the violence that had claimed three lives, goods containers were left stranded on the outskirts of the city for over a fortnight.

Earlier, containers could not enter the municipal limits of Saharanpur due to the 'Kanwar yatra' in the auspicious Hindu month of Shravan. As a result, exporters were faced with the prospects of seeing their export orders cancelled.

Exports form a substantial part of the total economy of the woodcarving industry, with the main export destinations being the USA, Europe, Brazil, Canada, China, Singapore, Sweden and Kuwait.

Now, the curfew has been relaxed between 6 am and 8 pm, and the containers are allowed to enter the town during this period. However, since it takes time for containers to get stocked and by that time the night curfew comes into force, their normal movement is still some time away.

Last week, about 25 containers were stranded owing to the curfew and the manufacturers suffered substantial losses during the period, Ramji Suneja of Sant Handicrafts told Business Standard.

A container typically contains goods worth about Rs 15-20 lakh and three to four containers are usually dispatched every day from Saharanpur for both domestic and foreign destinations.

The production work had also been affected owing to curfew, with either the units lying closed or labour unable to commute to their places of work.

Sheikh Faizan Ahmad, the president of the Saharanpur Wood Carving Manufacturing Association, said the night curfew could well stay for a while, which would only hit the industry harder.

"My estimate is that exporters would suffer losses to the tune of Rs 50 crore due to the violence," he added.

The wood carving industry has deep roots in Saharanpur and family-owned small units have coexisted with bigger and organised units. There are an some 10,000 micro units in the district, and about 100 organised factories, which largely cater to the export market.

Apart from direct export consignments, the finished products make their way to foreign shores through agents and third-party exporters as well.

Suneja claimed the wood carving business was facing a tough challenge from several countries, including China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Holland, Vietnam and Myanmar, since wood was abundantly available in these countries.

"Of late, China has emerged as a major competitor. However, Saharanpur still enjoys the edge in intricate hand-carved artifacts. China is giving competition in artifacts which are machine-intensive," he said.

Earlier, the artisans of Saharanpur primarily produced products by hand and sold their products to the locals and to visitors. Between 1960 and 1965, the industry started to become organised and the manufacturers formed their association.

The local factories generally receive supplies of timber needed to support the local cottage wood carving industry from the northern hill forest regions.