Staff Reporter :The shops at Mirpur Benarasi Palli are selling mostly Indian saris in view of increasing demand, cheaper price and attractive designs. As a result, the sale of Benarasi saris is comparatively low despite its high quality. That is why the Mirpur businessmen are increasing their stock with Indian saris. Eighty per cent of the products are Indians’ instead of those produced by the Benarasi Palli weavers.The Eid shopping is getting momentum with the shoppers, crowding the city’s Benarasi Palli. They are buying dresses of their choice and other necessities, specially for the children, on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest Muslim festival.Mohammed Nurul Amin, a weaver of Mirpur Silk House Workshop, said shops of the Benarasi Palli will collect saris from the local weavers after 10th Ramadan.’Almost all shop owners here have collected saris from other parts of the country and from India,’ Nurul Amin said. ‘Around one lakh weavers of Mirpur Benarasi Palli do not have their own shops. They are fully dependent on the shop owners of the Palli,’ he said.Indian saris has been occupying Mirpur Palli’s market for the last four years, but this year the market predominantly has gone to the Indian products.’Indian saris are smuggled into the country, evading tax, thereby depriving the governments of revenue. That is why they are selling Indian products at cheap rate. Contrarily, our hand-loom Benarasi saris are falling behind the power-loom Indian products of various colours and designs in competition”Last year we could sell some of our products during the Eid only, but this year we are just sitting idly,’ he said.Mohammed Habibul Alam of Benarashi Palli said that they had supplied wholesale saris to the Palli’s prominent shops, such as Nilachal, Mohammadia and Benarasi Sari Kuthi.’It is very sad for the Palli’s workshop weavers that the shops are not collecting Eid saris from them. Now our workshop’s weaving machine are sitting idle as there is no order,’ Habibul Alam said.This year Benarasi Palli shops are selling saris of different flowery names such as Fulkali Katan, Dulhan Katan, Mirpuri Reshmi Katan, Millennium Katan, Benarasi Cosmos, Organdi Katan, Tissue Katan, Brocket Katan and Chunri Katan, among others.Sagun Shari’s salesman Alauddin said they had sold different Indian brands such as Lehenga sari at Tk 10,000-25,000, shade net sari at Tk 5,000- 20,000, jute katan at Tk 5000- 14,000 and Indian georgette Benarasi at Tk 3,500- 10,000.Alauddin said, besides Indian saris, local zamdani saris are on high demand this year. So they are collecting new designs zamdani saris from Demra.The prices range from Tk 2,500 to Tk 15,000. Other local collections in their shops are embroidered Dupian sari, Mirpuri Opera Katan, Mirpuri Kanjibharam.Shopkeepers of the Palli said that besides the Indian products, they had also collected saris from Tangail, Pabna, Ishwardi and Narayanganj. Benarasi Palli, spanning from Mirpur 10 to 11 with 110 shops, has more than one lakh weavers.Benarasi saris are weaved at Mirpur in Bangladesh, Benaras, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of India and at few places in Pakistan.The city’s Benarasi Palli at Mirpur, centre for traditional Benarasi Katan and Jamdani sarees, witnessed an extraordinary rush of customers. Expensive saris decorated with stone chumkies were put on display at the Palli’s showrooms attracting the attention of female shoppers.The attraction of the upcoming Eid is Katan fabric made of three pieces. Price of it is ranging from Tk 10,000 and Tk 35,000. Actually, customers are showing their interest to The Indian for cheap rate and design full.
