Now in his late sixties, P.K. Gopalan of Ezhumangad near Shoranur has reasons to believe that the gods have stopped smiling at him. Hailing from the potter community of Kumbhara, which migrated to the shores of Bharathapuzha long ago from Andhra Pradesh to make use of the clay on the river basin, Mr. Gopalan is now in the middle of a crisis. Clay is hard to come by now, though village tourism has triggered a huge demand for the end product.
Across the region, the dearth of skilled labourers and tight regulations on clay-mining are pushing pottery into a dire situation. “My two sons quit last year and went to the Gulf, looking for profitable jobs. Among the 415 Kumbhara families here, hardly 32 are in the field now. Even they are not regular. I too am planning to quit next year. Then there will not be any full-time potter in Shoranur,” he says.
Though members of his community had tried hard in the past decade to save the industry, their efforts failed in the absence of government support. In other parts of Palakkad district like Kollangode, Ottappalam, and Anakkara, over 3,000 families are struggling to continue in the tradition. Though middlemen make profits, the plight of the grassroots-level artisans remains the same. Many a time, they find it hard to buy even the straw and firewood for firing the kiln.
Unequal laws
“The government has given a free hand to mafias supporting the tile industry and brick kiln operators to mine clay. But strict clauses are making the survival of Kumbharas difficult,” says Vinod Nambyar, a social activist of Arangottukara. He says the State is yet to tap the export potential of the earthenware. “Though a few middlemen have marketed the products in Europe, the market remains wide open,” he adds. “Potters do not damage the environment by exploiting clay deposits. Our intervention is minimal. But laws are stringent in our case and liberal for mining mafias,” says Mr. Gopalan.
3,000-odd potter families in Palakkad
face crisis for want of clay, the raw material.
