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Weaving trouble -Kundan Pandey

-Down to Earth

Kashmir's handmade pashmina shawls have long been threatened by power looms outside the state. The problem has now spread within

KASHMIR'S FABLED handcrafted pashmina shawls could soon be a thing of the past. The proliferation of machine-made pashmina products has become a big threat to the livelihood of the state’s artisans who have been spinning and weaving pashmina for ages. According to the Jammu and Kashmir handicraft department, the export of pashmina shawls fell from Rs 579.72 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 368.20 crore in 2014-15, declining by around 26 per cent. This is a second blow to Kashmiri weavers after the trade of shahtoosh shawls was banned in 2000.

Around 95 per cent of pashmina in Kashmir is now processed through power looms because they offer a better margin of profit. These looms are not registered for making pashmina products, but operate illegally. Proliferation of machine-made pashmina has also made the craft lose its purity because the wool has to be mixed with nylon or angora to make it survive the strain of mechanical weaving (see ‘Soft gold’,). The sharp fall in handmade pashmina was also admitted by the Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Textiles, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, while replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on May 7.

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