New lease of livelihood

New lease of livelihood


Navya First Published : 24 Feb 2009 11:00:18 AM ISTLast Updated : 24 Feb 2009 01:58:44 PM IST
Potery Tow n,a cluster of 40 houses allocated to potters by the British back in 1934, has been the hub of pottery making in the city. Today, around 100 potters in the locality, some of whom are award winners in their craft, are living in fear of eviction and loss of livelihood.
The source of the problem is a 100 ft x 200 ft area adjoining Pottery Town, which was given on lease to the potters by the Bangalore Municipal Corporation in 1975, on the recommendation of the Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB). “We needed more land as the number of family members increased, and work could not be done from individual homes. My great grandfather settled here in 1934. Today there are 40 members in our family and all of us are into the family profession, so I had to relocate,” says Rajshekhar, who lives in the leased area.
The lease period of 30 years was over by 2005. In 2007, the residents received a notification from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) asking them to leave the area in 15 days. After appeals from the area potter’s association Kumbhara Karakushala Kaikarika Sahakara Sangha Ltd (KKKSS), the BBMP responded saying that the potters could buy the land for Rs 80 lakh. But the proposal was withdrawn after a government order prohibited the sale of leased land. “In 2008, the then-BB MP commissioner Jairaj had promised that the lease can be extended for five years, but we have not received any letter from the BBMP,” says KKKSS President Nanjundappa who lives in the leased area.
Requests by the residents to extend the lease has been rejected and the area maybe acquired by the BBMP anytime.
“If we are ousted from here, there is no land available to relocate. Even if we manage to buy land, our business will be ruined as we will lose our regular customers,” says Lakshminarayan, former president of KKKSS. 57-yearold Lakshminarayan had started working as a potter at the age of 12. An award winner at the Pottery Mela-1987 in Chennai organised by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), pottery is still the only livelihood for Lakshminaryan and his family of six.
There are altogether 42 worksheds, some houses and a common furnace, all cramped in the area, and around 100 people depending on it for livelihood.
Pottery is a tradition here, passed on from one generation to the next, rather than just a means of livelihood.
Even educated youngsters in the community engage in pottery. Usually, two helpers and a worker utilise a workshed.
A day’s work would bring in earnings of around Rs 300, a large part of which would later be spent for maintenance and obtaining raw materials.
The common furnace had to be renovated recently at the cost of Rs 50,000.
The potters here have been supplying their ware to ISCKON temple and companies like KC Das for decades. They also have been participating in every craft mela organised by the KVIB. The production of bigger pottery ware has already been stopped due to lack of space, and now it’s smaller fancy items that sell, says Lakshminarayan.
Also, sale of ganesh idols during Ganesha Chathurthy and diyas during Diwali keep the business alive.
Muddurangappa, BB MP Deputy Commissioner (Estate), said that leased lands have to be recovered as per procedure. “We can deviate from the procedure only if the government makes a decision to that effect,” he said.