Sealing drive in Vikas Nagar renders potters jobless

They want government to help them in switching over to cleaner fuels instead of shutting down the pottery units

Women at work in Kumhar Colony, which is home to several potters.

Outside her asbestos-roofed two-room rented house in Vikas Nagar, 40-year-old Sheela is worried about how to feed her six children. For many like her, pottery making is the only livelihood. But they were shattered after the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had sealed 22 pottery units in the area on September 11 for causing pollution.

“They [officials] came and sealed the furnace last Wednesday. I am really tensed about what we will eat. We are not educated and we don’t know any other job. If there is no work, we will go hungry,” she said and added, “There is no help from the government to convert to gas or electric furnace. How will we do it then?” Sheela asked.

Across Kumar Colony in Vikas Nagar, which houses around 600 potter families, people said that government should help them in moving to cleaner fuels instead of shutting them down. Most of the potters use earthen furnace to make pots and

diyas .

The civic body had sealed the units for using wood and sawdust and thus causing pollution, following directions from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). The move came after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked the DPCC to file an action taken report on an ongoing case of alleged pollution due to pottery units operating in the city in April.

“We would inspect the area again and decide the future course of action,” a DPCC official told The Hindu , when asked whether more such units will be sealed.

Sheela’s husband, Mahaveer Prajapat, 45, from Rajasthan said his family has been making pottery for at least five generations now. “My father came to Delhi from Alwar and I have been in Delhi for the last 35 years. After a week, I have starting making pots since last Wednesday

and plan to use a friend’s furnace,” he said, while putting a chunk of mud onto the potter’s wheel. “We will have to do something to eat, right?” he said with a sigh.

“We sell one batch of about 250-300 pots for about ₹4,500,” he said.

A little away from Sheela’s house, Giriraj Prajapat, 50, whose furnace was also sealed demanded help from the government. “Either give us another job or move us to another place or give us subsidy or loan to buy electric or gas furnace,” he said.

As a crowd gathered at Giriraj’s house, other potters said they feared that their furnaces will also be sealed. “ Sarkar ko humara kaam dabana nahi chahiye, uthana chahiye [Government should not destroy our work, but they should uplift it],” said Kuldeep Prajapati, 30, who works as a potter in the colony.

“Modi government talks about banning plastic and in that case people will have to use more of earthen vessels. Still, why are you destroying potters?” he asked.

Mohan Kumar, 32, another potter, was worried as he would be among the next set facing government action. “We can’t just stop our work and go. What will our children eat? They will also remain illiterate like us,” the father of two lamented.