Empty streets take sheen off Pipili

Bhubaneswar: With shops shut since March 22, the forlorn Pipili market is a far cry from the riot of colours it used to be. The condition of the 7,000-odd small and big artisans living in and around Pipili, whose world-famous appliqué work is their only source of income, is no better.
The artisans, along with the proprietors of around 60 shops, together earn around Rs 1 crore a year. Now, even two square meals a day has become a tough ask for some Pipili artisans, even though they have received PDS rice and Rs 1,000 from the government. “It is difficult for us to buy cooking oil and dal. Currently, I am buying groceries on loan from the ration shop owner,” said Lily Parida, 29, an artisan who used to earn around Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 per month during peak season.
With no work now, Lily, a resident of Siriapur village near Pipili, is also unable to buy medicines for her paralysed mother. She has to run the household with the meagre amount her father, a farmer, gets. “I also have to repay a loan I had taken to repair my house after Cyclone Fani because the help from the authorities was insufficient,” said Lily.
There are many appliqué artisans living both in and around a 20km radius of Pipili who are in such dire straits. The senior craftspersons also cannot provide work to them as there is no demand for the products of this tourist-driven industry. “We depend on customers from New Delhi and West Bengal. I don’t expect them to return till the year-end,” said a crestfallen Ramesh Mohapatra, general secretary of Pipili Appliqué Cluster.
The artisans missed out on local sales during Dola Purnima, the marriage season and Pana Sankranti when appliqué items are used for religious ceremonies. The Rath Yatra, which provides them with big orders every year, is also doubtful. “Our machines will gather dust. I still have to pay small amounts to the artisans,” said Mohapatra.
Many craftspersons have also suffered because of no sale in other cities or state agencies like Utkalika and exhibitions. “Our karigars are asking us when work will restart,” said Sabita Maharana, an artisan and wife of master craftsman Manoranjan Maharana of Banamalipur, whose lamp shades are sought-after by businessman and tent house owners in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Jaipur.
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