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Anyone in their forties with experience of visiting the countryside might recall the ways they travelled from one place to another.
In the absence of proper rural road infrastructure, boats were one of the main modes of transport for people, whether they wanted to visit relatives living in another village or travel to nearby towns to avail treatment, be it for themselves or their elderlies.
Boats were an integral part of farming as growers used them to move production inputs and transport their crops from fields to home yards and to the market.
Those days have gone.
Boats have been left on the side as people switched to roads. Even farmers now use land transport for farming-related activities. And it is the boat makers, inheriting the profession from their ancestors, who are paying the price.
“Even 10-15 years ago, there was a lot of demand for boats. At that time, we could sell 10-12 boats a week. But due to various reasons, the use and demand for boats has decreased,” said Rajiv Hawladar, a boat maker at Chunakhali area of Barguna’s Amtalai.
“Now I can sell three to four boats a week, each for between Tk 6,000 and Tk 8,000,” said the 40-year-old boat maker, who had gone to the Kalapara weekly market in Patuakhali with newly built boats to find customers.
Boat makers said the demand for boats rises ahead of the rainy season, particularly from fishermen. They fish using small boats in canals and small rivers in their localities.
About 1,000 boats are estimated to be sold annually at the Kalapara market, one of the oldest markets. Fishermen from nearby upazilas buy these boats mainly for fishing, said boat makers.
Hawladar uses wood from locally available trees to make small boats for the local market. If someone wants to buy one of a better quality, the price goes up.
And he has been making boats with skills passed on by his ancestors.
“It will be a hundred-year trade of my family. My father and grandfather made boats and I am doing this now,” he said.
Not only Hawladar, for Zahidul Islam, making boats provides a livelihood for his family.
Islam takes the help of carpenters to make boats.
Two carpenters can make two boats every three days and get paid Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500 for each one.
Islam said there was a lot of demand for boats of various sizes in the past, when farmers used boats for their agricultural work, transportation of goods, and various other activities including ferrying people and goods across rivers.
Also, boats were once the main mode of transportation in this riverine region.
But over the years, roads have been developed even in remote areas. Bridges and culverts have been constructed at many points, various types of vehicles including buses, microbuses, motorcycles and autorickshaws have taken the place of boats.
Another boat maker, 52-year-old Abdul Motaleb Howladar, said there was a lot of demand for boats even 20 years to 25 years ago and boat makers did good business.
“Now the demand for boats has decreased. However, I remain in the profession as I do not have any skill other than boat making,” he added.
Nitai Sarkar, who takes lease of the boat market, witnessed the gradual decline in the demand for boats.
“I have been running this market for 33 years. Even, 15-20 years ago, 50-60 boats were sold every week. Now the demand for boats has decreased due to various reasons,” he said.
For boat makers, small fishermen like Sader Ali continue to be the main buyers. The 45-year-old resident of Fulbunia village in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali has been fishing for 30 years using small boats bought from the local market.
“If you buy a boat, you can fish with it for at best two years. Boats do not last long as the river water is saline,” he said.
Fisherman Abul Kalam came to the boat market last Tuesday as his boat turned unusable after three years. He fishes in the Andharmanik river in the area to bear the expenses of his five-member family.
Abul Hashem, another fisherman, also came to the market to buy a new boat as his existing one cannot be used anymore.
Boat makers like Howladar and Abu Hanif are aware that there is a demand created for people seeking to replace old boats.
And this still provides them a livelihood.
As the monsoon is set to arrive soon, Abu Hanif is also upbeat.
“Demand is higher this year. So, we are making some profit,” he said at the boat market, where he was trying to sell five boats.
(TDS)
