Hand, power loom units incur over Tk 100cr loss
The recent flood has wreaked havoc on the handloom and power loom industries in Sirajganj and Pabna districts, causing loss worth over Tk 100 crore and rendering over 8,25,000 loom workers jobless, said government officials.
Leaders of handloom owners' associations, however, said the loss would be over Tk 150 crore.
Local hand loom board officials said at least 1,58,000 hand looms and 20,000 power looms have been damaged in eight upazilas of Sirajganj and Pabna districts, where more than 8,25,000 loom workers have become jobless.
Sultan Mahamud, handloom board officer of Sirajganj Sadar, Belkuchi, Kamarkhand and Kazipur upazilas, said at least 34 crore 65 lakh taka have been lost in hand loom sector and about 20 crore taka in power loom sector in those four upazilas.
Wahid Ali, officer of the same board of Sahazadpur and Chouhali upazilas, said the flood has caused loss of at least 20 crore taka in handloom and power loom sectors in these upazilas.
He said at least 40 thousand handloom and power loom units out of over 53 thousand have been submerged in the two upazilas. In Ullapara upazila 14,681 loom units have been damaged, said an official of the board. A preliminary survey report of the board says Ullapara loom owners lost over 11 crore taka.
Md Mahabubul Alam of Tamai village in Belkuchi upazila under Sirajganj district, who is the owner of 27 handlooms, said he lost at least Tk 1,89,000 due to the flood and 100 loom workers of his industry are passing their days without any work.
Abdus Salam Molla, another handloom owner in the same village, said he lost at least Tk 1,30,000 due the flood and Tk 2 lakh will be needed to reopen his 25 looms.
More than 150 crore taka has been lost in handloom and power loom sectors in eight upazilas in Sirajganj and Pabna districts according their preliminary door-to-door survey, said Fazal Talukder, president of a handloom industry association in Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj district.
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