More than 5,000 looms were damaged in the recent heavy rains that lashed Guntur district, and weavers cannot work for another 15 days as floodwater has entered the loom pits.
Yarn, worth some lakhs of rupees was soaked in rainwater and houses of many weavers were damaged in the calamity causing huge loss to the community.
“Some thousands of looms have stopped working, and many weavers are facing starvation due to the calamity. Market has come to halt as there is no work for weavers, and the pathetic situation may continue for two more weeks,” said a weaver Ramakrishna.
Speaking to The Hindu, Chaitanya Weavers Cooperative Society vice-president Venegalla Shankar Rao said weavers suffered huge losses due to the recent rainfall in Mangalagiri, Battiprolu, Ilavaram, Firangipuram, Sattenapalli and Repalle areas in the district. “Nearly 90 per cent of the weavers suffered losses and water was stagnant in the loom pits. We request the government to enumerate the losses in weavers’ colonies, extend financial assistance for taking up repairs of the looms, and procure the produce through APCO,” said Mr. Shankar Rao.
Repalle Weavers Cooperative Society former chairman G.V. Nageswara Rao said that there are about 70 weavers’ cooperative societies in Guntur district, and most of the societies stopped the trade because yarn was completely soaked