Bogra Correspondent :
Blacksmiths of Bogra have become busy as the demand for iron-made household goods are on the rise with Eid-ul Azha right around the corner.
With Muslim community getting ready to slaughter sacrificial animals, sale of new machetes, choppers, knives and other iron-made goods have risen drastically. People are also repairing their old and damaged machetes, knives and other tools needed for cutting meat. Smithies, which were devoid of work just a few days back, are now bustling with activities.
“We are only busy before Eid-ul- Azha and during the rest of the year we just pass idle days. This Eid brings better days for us,” said 70-year-old blacksmith Niranjan Karmakar who runs his smithy with his son in Mahsthan Bazaar under Shibganj upazila of the district. They make new tools as well as repair damaged ones.
Nilkanta Karmakar, son of Niranjan Karmakar, said normally their daily turnover amounts to Tk 500 to Tk 1,000. But ahead of Eid-ul Azha, especially a week before, their earnings shoot up.
‘Before Eid-ul-Azha, we do not even have the time to breathe, whereas we stay almost workless for the rest of the year,’ said a smiling Niranjan, adding, ‘Although there’re wholesale buyers of knifes and other slaughtering tools all the year round, retail buyers swarm to us during Eid-ul-Azha.’
“This year we are earning Tk 10,000 to Tk 15,000 daily,” he added. Visiting various smithies, our correspondent found blacksmiths busy producing and repairing iron-made tools for cutting meat.
The price of these sharp tools varies with the quality and quantity of the iron. Currently, ‘chapatis’ are selling at Tk 450-1,000, butcher knives at Tk 250-400, small knives at Tk 80-250 and cleavers at Tk 350-550.
Some shops adjacent to the blacksmiths’ workshops at the Bazaar sell tree trunks, which are used to chop big pieces of meat and bone, at Tk 150-450 for general people. They also have strong trunks for professional butchers costing Tk 1,000-25,00.
Abdul Alim, a buyer at Fatheh Ali Bazar, who is a butcher by profession and has a meat shop in the Bazar, said he had come to buy several sharp tools as he had recruited some extra hands to work with him during Eid.
It is not only the blacksmiths of the city who are enjoying the pick of the season of their ironworks, knife sharpeners are also wandering on different roads of the town calling for knife sharpening as Eid-ul-Azha is very close.
They sharpen knives and cleavers at a cost of Tk 80 to 100 per piece.
Expressing disappointment, several owners of blacksmith stores at Rail line Bazar said the price of raw materials like iron, charcoal, wooden handle were increasing every year.
Most of the blacksmiths said ‘chapati’ and knives imported from China were getting popular these days and posing a threat to their business.
Shree Krisna Kumar Karmaker, owner of a blacksmith store at Chelopara Bazar, told The New Nation, ‘Iron costs Tk 180 to 250 per kg, whereas the price was Tk 50 to 70 per kg four-five years ago.’ He also said per sack of charcoal costs Tk 11,00-13,00 at present, whereas it was sold at Tk 500-600 just five years ago.
