With a strong dip in the fortunes of agriculturalists, the tyre cart fabricators of Thanjavur district, who received considerable patronage from the once-flourishing farmers, are now finding the going tough. Mechanisation and the hardship involved in raising oxens are hastening the decline of the tyre cart manufacturing units.
Though industries are scarce in the predominantly agrarian Thanjavur district, there were some small units that used to prosper in the shade of the agricultural affluence.
Tyre cart fabrication was among them due to the huge dependence of the farmers, especially the sugarcane growers and paddy farmers, for transporting their agricultural produce from the fields.
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“Some four decades back, the delta region abounded with adequate water and consequently farming flourished.
The farmers also looked beyond traditional paddy to tap the benefits of sugarcane and other crops. To suit their varied application and utility, they then sought to replace the traditional wooden bullock carts with tyre carts. Seeing its benefits, the delta farmers used to purchase the tyre carts from Vellanur, Poovalur and Lalgudi in neighbouring Tiruchi district,’’ observes a sugarcane grower K. A. S. Elangovan of Kurungulam.
When farmers started to buy more tyre carts from those areas and there arose a need for workshops to carry out maintenance works, many ventured to establish tyre cart fabrication units in Thanjavur district itself. Soon, there sprouted at least 300 big and small tyre cart fabrication units in the delta region and they all bloomed well.
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“Slowly, agricultural returns ebbed and with that the tyre cart fabricating units slid into hardship. Declining fortunes led many units to disappear and now hardly a third of them are surviving. Previously there used to be at least two tyre carts in every farmer’s household and we did a roaring business. Gone are the days when we would fabricate up to 10 carts a month. Now we are lucky if we repair and refit two or three carts,’’ rues a tyre cart fabricator S. Savarimuthu of Thirukkanoorpatti.
“Initially, I hired technicians from Vellanur but later on the locals learnt the fabrication techniques and the business went on smoothly until the farmers started to feel the pinch of farming. Now, we fabricators are having a tough time as our other area of activity, grill making, has also floundered”, says Mr. Savarimuthu who has been in the trade for more than three decades.