The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Shortage of paper, sticks hit kite-makers

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Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Shortage of paper, sticks hit kite-makers

Abhijit Dev Kumar

- Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

Getting dearer: A pall of gloom has descended on the kite-makers as the input costs have soared to the skies.

Hyderabad: Flying kites is perhaps one of the oldest forms of whiling away time and having fun. With Sankranti festival around the corner, parts of the city are already seeing kites taking flight. Nevertheless, a majority of kite-makers are crying foul for want of paper and sticks.

A cloud of gloom has descended on the kite-makers as prices of paper and sticks have shot up drastically. Anwar Khan, a resident of Yakutpura makes kites for a living. Supporting a family of five, he makes kites along with his family. But with escalating prices of paper and sticks, he complains, “The cost of paper has gone up from Rs. 500 per rim to Rs. 900. How am I supposed to make an extra Rs. 400 with rising prices?”

About 900 kites are made from a single roll of paper and labour charges at Rs. 100 per day are already making things bad for the industry. “Five people are involved in making kites, right from cutting paper to framing them with sticks and decorating them. Compared to last year, it’s very difficult to make up for two meals,” says Aslam Khan another kite maker.

But its not just paper, the scarcity of bamboo sticks in the local market and importing the same from Nagpur and other places are adding to the operational costs. “Preparations begin from June and continue till January. It’s only during the festive season that the wage goes up to Rs. 100. But with the shortage of sticks, our productivity has also come down,” says Akram Khan, a kite vendor from Hussainialam.

With the increase in cost of raw materials, kites’ prices have gone up by a mere rupee.

“If the kites are too costly, then people would not purchase them. We have no choice but to sell kites at increased prices to meet labour salaries and our needs,” says Mohammed Saleem, another vendor.

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Andhra Pradesh