: Once upon a time bamboo was a huge economic product in Gajapati district. Before Margashira of Odia month when Laxmi Puja at various homes starts (which called Mana Basa Gurubar), plenty of bamboo processed products are sold at various streets by the bamboo artisans. But these days bamboo products are a rare sight here.
In all the weekly markets in seven blocks of Gajapati district, the bamboo processed item was sold in huge quantities and the sellers earned handsomely. But due to lack of support from the Forest Department, which has made it difficult to procure bamboo, the bamboo weavers have lost their bread and are an extinct clan.
Tenklasahi and Badapada are the areas where the bamboo artisans live. But these people are no longer in their age-old profession; rather they have switched over to other fields.
During the 1990s, these people used to do various items from bamboo and sell them. But gradually, due to raw material shortage, the bamboo item centres have almost been shut.
These families used to walk 10-15 km in search of bamboo. They too were getting orders aplenty. For marriages they earlier got orders for various bamboo products and supplied them to the families.
In the Tankla colony 150 families are living. Their situation is very bad due to loss of livelihood. It is demanded that the Forest Department simply the process to procure bamboo inorder to revive the traditional profession.