Chinese goods, iron furniture hit Kartarpur industry

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Jalandhar: Kartarpur, a small town popular for furniture making for decades is now virtually on the verge of closure due to several reasons including import of Chinese goods and wrought iron furniture gaining popularity among buyers.

Its lucrative edge is now a matter of past. People engaged in this business now witnessing losses and mass unemployment. Even those with generations of experience in this business are talking increasingly about “other options”.

Most of the carvers who had enriched this traditional craft hail from the Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district and after the partition they conferred it in the hands of Sikhs as a souvenir to keep the tradition alive. The furniture has Mehrab, jail and grapevine motifs. Be it a chair, a bed, a sofa or a dining table, the furniture is made of pure sheesham, teakwood or Sagwan. Kartarpur furniture’s unique selling point is its durability.

At present ,60% of this region’s population is employed in various branches of wood furniture manufacture. There were earlier about 450 units, mostly small and medium scale in size. Swaroop Rai, whose manufacturing unit is facing acute crisis said, “The industry had burgeoned despite the fact Punjab does not have many sources of wood.