Internet Suspension In The Valley Causes Decline In Handicraft Exports

After adjusting his notes on carpet weaving, Imtiyaz Ahmad Dar, 28, rushes to pick apples at a nearby orchard, where he is a daily wage worker. The orchard is in the Gada Khud village of Bandipora district, about 30 kilometers from Srinagar of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). Gada Khud has never been known for its apples. Instead, it’s called the ‘Carpet Village’; of the 400 households in the hamlet, nearly 300 are carpet weavers. However, since August, the ongoing internet blockade has crippled the exports of the carpet industry and several other cottage industries.

With no communication with the buyers, the blockade has proven an unyielding grit in the carpet looms of the village. Dar, who belongs to a family of weavers, stated that the weavers in the area now prefer working as laborers to make ends meet. The dealers from Srinagar don’t even inquire about the orders placed before the internet blockade, he added. According to data by the J&K Department of Handicrafts, the exports of handicrafts have declined by 62 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, as compared to the first quarter.

voters