S.A.Shofiee. Sylhet :
Quilt makers in the Sylhet district are now passing busy time from morning till midnight as demand of the item has increased amid fall of temperature in the area ahead of the winter.
People are crowding the shops of quilt makers in both towns and rural areas of the district to buy new quilts or get the old ones repaired to fight the winter.
“Around 600 quilt makers in the district are now passing very busy time. One can make 5-6 quilts a day and take Tk 200 as making charge, which was Tk 175 last year,” said N Islam, convenor of district quilt combers group.
Insolvent people usually buy quilt made of low quality cotton obtained by processing thrown away cut pieces from garment factories.
Such cotton is selling for Tk 80-Tk 100 per kg compared to last year’s Tk 70-Tk 80.
An 8 feet by 5 feet ‘double sized’ quilt usually needs 6-7 kg of cotton and the total cost including that for cotton, cloth, thread, sewing and making charge stands at Tk 1200-Tk 1500, which was Tk 1000-Tk 1200 last year, quilt makers said.
Solvent people want to get quilt made of quality cotton and cloth and it costs Tk 2500-Tk 3000 each.
But high quality cotton, costing Tk 300-Tk 350 per kg, is not that much available in the local market.
Md Shohidur Rahman, a quilt maker at Kodomtoly market in Sylhet City, said the work continues for three months from November to January when he can make 500-600 quilts.
“We are taking Tk 200 as making charge for each quilt. We do business only in winter and have to maintain family throughout the year with the income. We can make hardly any savings to change our lot,” he said. Temperature in the district fell by 8-10 degrees Celsius from previous 26-28 degrees in last two weeks and it was 17 degrees Celsius on Saturday morning, weather office in Sylhet informed.
The temperature is likely to fall drastically from mid-November and it might be as low as 3 degrees Celsius in December-January, said in charge of weather office in Sylhet.
As low-income people in the poverty stricken Sylhet district suffer from lack of stamina due to malnutrition and often fail to manage sufficient warm clothes, they become the worst sufferers of the severe cold affecting the northern region.
