Only five years ago, around 900 craftsmen in six villages under the district were involved in producing items made of bamboo, but now the number has come down to about 150.

Many craftsmen have given up their ancestral profession and taken up rickshaw pulling, jobs in garment factories or working as labourers in construction sites. Now only women and a few male craftsmen are engaged in their ancestral work.

Craftsman Dhaniram Chandra Das, 48, of Mahishkhocha village in Aditmari upazila said he was engaged in his ancestral job of producing bamboo made items since his childhood, but he changed his job four years ago and is now working as day labourer. “The demand for bamboo made things has decreased alarmingly due to plastic products,” he added.

“Now I earn Tk 200 to Tk 250 a day pulling a rickshaw, while it is impossible to earn Tk 100 by making bamboo items,” said Nani Gopal Das, 45.

Sarothi Bala Das, 52, a widow, said, “I saw my grandparents, parents and husband making bamboo items, and they were lucky as there was a good market for bamboo products,” adding that she earns Tk 70 to Tk 80 per day now, while it was Tk 300 to Tk 350 a few years ago.

Fani Chandra Das, 42, a physically challenged craftsman of Bhotmari village in Kaliganj upazila said, “If I got another job I would say goodbye to my ancestral work forever, but unluckily I'm a physically challenged man,” he said.

Suro Bala Das, 63, of Namuri village in Aditmari upazila said bamboo prices have increased while prices of bamboo products have decreased, so their ancestral job is not enough to earn a livelihood. “Now women in our community are keeping our ancestral job alive, while the males have already left it,” she added.

Delowar Hossain, 68, a farmer of Kulaghat village in Lalmonirhat Sadar, said now they are getting all kinds of plastic items at low rate, so they do not need to use bamboo items.