The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Lean days for carpenters

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Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Lean days for carpenters

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

“People no longer buy wood products because of the prices”

Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

slow going Durai Kannan at his shop in K.K. Nagar.

Carpenter U. Rajapandian is sitting idly in front of his shop. It’s been a lean day for him. “Today we had only one customer. We sold a wooden door for Rs.2,700. Other carpentry shops face the same problem.

V. Arumugam, standing beside his employer Rajapandian with folded hands says, “I have no work today. I will have to go back home without the Rs.250, which is my daily wage as a carpenter.”

“Yesterday I had work only till noon. People no longer buy wood products because prices have increased,” he adds. The wooden products have inputs from many industries. Wood is not the only raw material. “A rise in the prices of other hardware used in making wood products also contributes to the trouble we face,” Rajapandian says.

“We mainly use teakwood, pillamaruthu, karumaruthu, neem, kongu and padak for the wood products. We get wood from places like Shencottah, Tiruchi and Bangalore. The transport cost is already high and with hike in diesel price it’s become worse, he says.

“Earlier, we had the option of cutting trees near Chennai. But the Corporation and the forest officials are strictly enforcing the law and cutting of trees near Chennai is not possible,” he says.

“Usually business is brisk between March and July. But this year it has been very bad. I have never seen anything like this in my 30 years in the woodworking business.”

The carpenters in his employ have also started demanding higher wages because of the rising prices.

“I am unable to pay more because it will hike up costs,” says Rajapandian.

Arumugam, another carpenter, says the sudden hike in rents coupled with the price rise has hit them hard. “I have to earn at least Rs. 350 a day to cope,” says Arumugam.

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