GUWAHATI, May 30 - At a time when the handloom industry of Assam is incurring heavy losses due to the current medical emergency, a number of weavers from villages adjacent to the Deepor Beel have achieved success in capturing the national market with face masks made from eri.
The weavers are working under Ava Creations, a handloom fabric brand founded by Arup Baishya and Anu Mandal. Around 350 families from these villages are associated with the initiative. Some of them are weavers and others are working in eri fabric rearing and spinning activities.
Ava Creations mainly deals in traditional silk garments, but this time they have incurred huge losses due to the outbreak of coronavirus. As a damage repairing measure, they started the face mask making venture and achieved immense success. This has given great financial relief to all the families associated with the brand.
Baishya informed that last year they sold garments worth around Rs 40 lakh during the peak season. But this year sale has been extremely low. To compensate for the loss, they started online promotion of the eri face mask and within a few days, got a good number of orders from different parts of the country.
The founders of Ava Creations informed that amid the lockdown they have exported more than 5,000 such masks to New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagaland, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh and other places. Even on the local market, the face mask is getting overwhelming response from the public.
Anu Mandal said that the eri face masks are made by using indigenous dyes which are self-perpetuating, non-toxic, eco-friendly and biodegradable.
�Eri, also known as �ahimsa silk�, has a very coarse and fine texture. The strength and durability along with its thermal properties mark eri fabric as one of the most reliable cloths for personal use. The naturally created colours and fabrics are most relevant to use at this moment of global crisis. Moreover, a face mask made by using natural dye and hand-spun and hand-woven fabrics, enables the user to wear it for a longer duration. Such masks are washable, reusable, double-layered and environment friendly,� she said.
