Breeding and rearing of Angora rabbit in the higher regions of Uttarakhand which used to provide an important income generating avenue for the people of the rural areas of the State has remained in a State of decline. As things stand now, just 20 percent to 30 percent of State’s people are still associated with it. Tough competition facing them and the dwindling returns for hard labour they undertake are prodding them to look for easier avenues to survive.
The tradition of household spinning and weaving the fibre was much known in Uttarakhand in the yesteryears. However, the practice declining fast with the people who previously were associated with it, the thread is now being supplied mostly from leh.
The current rate of the wool standing at `1400-1500 per kg, some people are still clinging to it. “Angora wool shawls are parts of Uttarakhand heritage. It is an imperative to keep it living,” said one of those who are sticking to it despite the declining trend.
However, the Doonites sound enthusiastic about Angora wool shawls which are available at the Khadi Gramudyog Fair, now going on in Dehradun. Some stall owners said that Angora shawls are still drawing customers.
Virendra Bhandari from Chamoli who has been selling Angora wool shawl for years says that the practice of rearing of the Angora rabbit is now much less than what was before. “We have been purchasing the thread of the Angora from ladakh at nominal rates. The artisans are leaving the trade, given the stiff competition they are facing. Handicrafts are not getting easy customers nowadays in the markets and so the returns for the artisans are paltry,” he said.
He further said that the people in Chamoli districts are still in the tradition of weaving shawls, scarves and many more in order to continue with the tradition. “Naturally, they are not concerned with the market competition. There should be widespread breeding of Angora rabbit so as to enable us to generate adequate income to keep it alive,” he added. Weaving of Pashmina shawls takes a lot of time, two to three years in the least, says Mohammad Ashiq from Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir. The wool being costly-`2 lakh per kg- is hard to collect, he says, adding that very few artisans who deal with Pashmina shawls are left in Kashmir now. “This is because they are not getting enough returns to survive there,” he further says.