COVID-19: Banarasi silk saree trade suffers due to unavailability of Chinese yarn

Coronavirus crisis is having a debilitating effect not only on human life but also on several businesses. In Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, the weavers of Banarasi sarees are bearing the brunt of the pandemic due to unavailability of Chinese silk yarn.

In the wake of COVID-19, several sectors have been affected due to the unavailability of raw material imported from China, including the "Banarasi saree" trade here.

Mohammad Jubeir, a weaver told , "Our yarn used to come from China, the quality of the yarn here is not good. We are not receiving the material from China as well. Those who have the material available with them are working nicely but our work is suffering badly."

"The Chinese yarn used to be of fine quality, there's no sale of sarees here right now. We are not receiving any orders and customers are also not coming here," said Ramakant Jaiswal, a wholesaler.

2,000 tonnes of silk was imported from China every month, of which five to seven tonnes of silk is consumed daily for making sarees in Varanasi.

Another weaver asserted that the artisans in the district are on the verge of starvation amid the COVID-19 crisis as calls have been given for a boycott of Chinese imports.

"We completely boycotted using Chinese yarn, for our country. The price of Chinese yarn has reduced now but even if we get it for free, we won't use it now. Our country comes first for us. Our business has been affected since the lockdown was imposed," said Shameer Ansari, another weaver.

( With inputs from ANI )