Home ›› 06 Aug 2021 ›› Nation
The century-old boat market in Jhalakati and Pirojpur districts under the Barishal division is now working in full swing to embrace crowds as the monsoon peaks.
The boat market --situated at the Atghar-Kuriana Khal (canal) under the frontier areas of Jhalakati and Pirojpur-- has been operating as the largest boat market in the country for over a century.
The vast water expansion stretches over eight to ten kilometres along the Sandha River.
People living in Kirtipasha, Nabagram, Gavaramchandrapur of Jhalakati’s Sadar upazila and Atghar, Adamkathi, Zindakathi, Bastokathi, Benguli, Dalhar, Atapara, Kuriana of Pirojpur’s Swarupkati upazila often left in an undesirable state as the areas they live get frequently flooded during the monsoon.
Hence, boats become the only means of transport for the people living in these areas during the rainy season.
Over a 1,500 boat maker of 20 villages under Jhalakati’s Sadar and Pirojpur’s Swarupkati upazilas are utilizing their natural treasure of Sundari wood-- which grows in abundance in the two districts-- and making affordable boats for people of adjacent flood-prone areas.
However, the boat builders also use timber from local Koroi, Raintree, Chambal, Jarul, Shal, Sundari, and Mahogany trees.
During a visit, boat builders, carpenters of around 500 families involved in the construction, art and ritual of boat making in this region, were seen passing a busy time seasoning, coating the timber with tar and tannin of mangosteen (gaab) to make it water-resistant and weather proof.
Azizul Haque, a boat builder who was seen busy cutting woods for making a boat in the market, said: “Although we used to have enough wood for boat making, now it became scarce and costly. If we go to a sawmill for cutting wood more conveniently, it takes us hours to do so due to unstable electricity, which in turn increase the cost.”
Azizul said a small boat lengthening 8ft to 10 ft, sells for Tk 1,800 to Tk 2,000 in the market.
Md Monirul Islam, a boat trader of Jhalakati’s Nabagram, told He Business Post that they provide loans to the builders in around Baishakh (mid-April) as advance and the boat makers take Tk300 to Tk 400 less than the actual market price, as interest, when they sell their boats to the traders.
Amol Mistri, a carpenter in the market, said the unavailability of proper wood for boat making, high prices of raw materials, and the downward trend in using boats in the villages make it difficult for poor boat makers like him to continue his ancestral profession.
However, local traders and boat builders in this region said that this hundred-plus-year-old boat market suffers from a loss for the last two years for the Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdown.
Also, the price the boat builders, traders have to pay high fees for leasing a spot on the canal.
Denying the allegations, a lessor in the Kuriana boat market, Md Mostafa Kamal said: “The boat makers, sellers and buyers operate their businesses peacefully.
“Therefore, the allegations made against us are baseless.”
Along with Mostafa, other lessors in the market told the Business Post that the traders in the market make Tk 10 lakh to Tk 12 lakh a week and over Tk 450 crores each monsoon season.
Jalish Mahmud, deputy manager of Jhalakati BSCIC Industrial City, said that if the boat builders want BSCIC will assist them with loans.
Jhalakati Deputy Commissioner Md Johor Ali told The Business Post that the market is not only a business place, but they are planning to turn it into a tourist spot.
He said they will take measures to assist the boat makers of the century-old market.
This floating spectacle takes place on Fridays and Mondays every week for three months every year, spanning from Bangla month Ashar, Shraban to Bhaidra (from mid-June to mid-August), on the bank of Atgar canal.
