Bamboo industry in Kerala has found a silver lining after the state banned single-use plastics from January 1. The Kerala State Bamboo Corporation has earmarked Rs 25 crore from the National Bamboo Mission kitty. This will harness rural artisans into projects such as corrugated sheets, setting up of godowns, planting bamboo and establishment of bamboo-weaving centres.
While a tribal settlement in Idukky transformed itself into a full-fledged bamboo village, a state PSU has taken the plunge in promoting manufacture of bamboo construction material.
“Since whatever is made of plastic can be made from bamboo, too, our priority move would be to replace all office stationery — file-racks, pens and pen-stands, baskets, holders, drinking straws — with bamboo products,” Abdul Rasheed, managing director, Kerala State Bamboo Corporation, told FE. “The whole country would be our market for bamboo stationery.”
Kerala, at the instance of ban on single-use plastics in the state, has agreed to give top priority to bamboo stationery, commissioned from artisans who are mostly from Scheduled Tribe. The corporation has a buyback pact with artisans who get subsidy on the bamboo reeds, harvested from Kerala.
Recently, a Kallickal tribal settlement in Idukky, that uses bamboo furniture, kitchenware, boxes, baskets and mats, in their daily lives was tagged as Mulagramam (bamboo village), after it signed up for design training. “This project yielded a welcome extra household income as we were able to sell about 140 diverse products at the local fair,” said PV Sunil, secretary, Mulagramam project. However, the dream of Kerala’s bamboo industry is even bigger than local kitchenware or even the substitution of country’s office stationery. It aims to make foray into building construction sector, too, provided the 18% goods and services tax on bamboo-ply is eased.
“A scientifically-constructed bamboo building can weather earthquakes and has a lifespan much beyond 50 years,” said PB Sajan, joint director, Costford (Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development), a doyen in low-cost housing.
Costford, co-founded by architect Laurie Baker, had set up a 2,200 sq ft and three-storey bamboo building with a shoe-string budget of Rs 32 lakh in the state capital. It uses giant woody grass to envelop the skeletal structure and bamboo poles with a protective coat of cashewnut shell liquid.