It used to be that a deep metallic chiming sound was synonymous with Chapainawabganj town. The pounding sound of kansari artisans at work creating bell metal products could be heard while walking along many-a-road. But with the traditional industry on the verge of extinction, it's a sound that's fallen silent.

Twenty-five years ago about a thousand families pursued the centuries-old, ancestral profession of making household articles and utensils including plates and cups in bell metal, which is a form of bronze. Such products from Chapainawabganj earned a reputation for quality.

Nowadays only around one hundred families in Azaipur, Arambagh, Ramskrishtopur, Bat Tala and Shankarbati areas around the town continue; a number that is fast dwindling.

“Our traditional products find poor market access,” says Shawkat Ali of Arambagh who has been involved in bell metal production for fifty years. “The public mostly choose plastic, ceramic, steel and melamine goods instead.”

he prices of the raw materials, including the different metals used and the cost of labour have also risen, he adds. “Prices are at a level where raw material costs hardly cover the cost of production.”

Shawkat does not want the next generation of his family to pursue the business. “There is no future in this industry,” he says.

“There was a time when people would come from across the district and also from Rajshahi and Naogaon to buy brass utensils and also decorative artworks,” says another bell metal businessman Shahidul Islam from Ram Krishtopur, whose family business has been around for over a century. “But many artisans are leaving the profession as it's hard to make a living with bell metal now. Customers favour cheaper substitutes.”

“I have been involved in bell metal manufacture for over sixty years,” says artisan Shafiqul Islam of Azaipur. “But none among the younger generation are taking up the profession.”

His neighbour Hossain Ali, also a bell metal artisan, says he doesn't want any from his family to join the dying industry. “Many are hoping to pursue other, more profitable professions for survival,” he says.

Sirajul Islam who owns a bell metal shop in the town's Puraton Bazar, is also doing it tough. “Earlier, most people used bell metal utensils; but now they prefer plastic, steel, melamine and ceramic goods. The only reason we are still in this business is because it is our ancestral business, which makes it difficult to leave.”

The general secretary of the local bell metal industry association in Chapainawabganj, Abul Hossain, says added to the crises of customers and rising costs, there is now also a growing crisis in finding expertise in the craft due to a lack of up-and-coming artisans.

On behalf of the town's remaining bell metal producers he urges the government and non-government organisations to assist in finding ways to save the traditional craft, in out of respect for tradition and in order to protect the livelihoods of the hundreds of artisans yet at work.