"Monsoon rain falls in Asharh, canals and beels brim over, tengra and puti leap up and everyone makes a fuss." By late Asharh, canals, beels, rivers and ditches everywhere are full of water and native fish move about freely. Fish usually breed in the new water of Baishakh. To enjoy native fish, village people of all walks of life catch them by setting chai-bucchna, a kind of fish trap, in canals and open water. To meet the demand and earn a seasonal income, craftsmen are busy making the traps.

A visit found that Baraikaran and Sarai villages in Kulkathi union of Nalchity upazila, Jhalakathi, are famous for betel leaf. Alongside the betel growers, people of other trades and labourers are not falling behind in the struggle to make a living, and as seasonal work craftsmen are busy weaving chai-bucchna traps and nets.

It is not only the head of the household: wives, children, brothers, mothers and fathers help with the weaving, which moves the work along considerably.

Delwar Hossain, a craftsman in Sarai village, said: "In the month of Magh I have to buy each bamboo for Tk 120 to 150, judging it by eye. The bamboo is then cut to size and soaked in water to make the slats. Three days a week I make slats from bamboo; the other four days I drive a rickshaw to make a living. Each bucchna takes 220 to 250 slats, and three bucchna can be made from one good bamboo. I started this work in Magh and it will go on until Ashwin. My brother Jalal, wife Nazma, son Nazmul, daughter Meem, mother Nurbanu and father Sultan Sheikh help me. For lack of capital, I take a bank loan and work every year."

He added: "I sell each bucchna for Tk 350 to Tk 500. Every Monday and Thursday I take 60 bucchna to sell at the Jhalakathi stadium intersection, and others buy from me wholesale. After household costs, my parents' medical costs, my children's education and repaying the loan, my income and spending for the year come out even. If I got an interest-free loan on easy terms with government help, I hope I could live a little better."

Craftsmen supply the traps from one market in the district to another by river and road, and spend the season busy weaving and selling. Aktaruzzaman Bachchu, organising secretary of the Nalchity upazila Awami League and local UP chairman, said: "Delwar's work falls under cottage industry. He cannot rise because of financial problems. With support he could become well off."

Md Al Amin, assistant monitoring and quality control officer at BSCIC Jhalakathi, said: "If they come to us, we can give the necessary help according to the rules."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.