Rush for paper bags in city

The paper and cloth bag manufacturing units in the district have suddenly become the cynosure of all eyes, thanks to the ban imposed by the government on plastic carry bags below 30 micron.

The paper manufacturing units run by Kudumbasree were almost in a sleepy stage till last week. The unavailability of a replacement for plastic bags created market for these carry bags which were just a fancy a few days ago.

‘‘A total of five manufacturing units are engaged in making paper and cloth carry bags in the city,’’ said Shaila Chako, community organiser of Kudumbasree. Among this, Jeev, Jaiv and Jeannie units at Palayam have been producing cloth bags for the past four years while ‘Dhanya’, the Kudumbasree unit near Krishnan Nair Road, and Sreelakshmi Kudumbasree unit at Chelavoor are also engaged in producing cloth bags,’’ she added. Each of these manufacturing units comprises ten female members.

The customers for these bags include hospitals, offices and even the vendors. ‘‘These Kudumbasree units supply 10,000 bags per month to a hospital in the city,’’ she added.

In order to meet the growing demand, Kudumbasree is also planning to start more units. ‘‘Two paper bag units will be set up at Thiruvannur and Kuttichira in a month,’’ she said.

A paper and a cloth manufacturing unit are also functioning under two Kudumbasree units at the Koyilandy municipality.

The other three paper bag manufacturing units include ‘Archana paper bag unit’ at Ramanattukara panchayat, ‘Udayam paper bag unit’ at Unnikulam panchayat and Freedom Kudumbasree unit at Perumanna.

Cloth bags are also manufactured at the Kudumbasree units at Chulliparamba, Kodambhuzha and Unnikulam panchayat.

Some colleges in the city had started paper bag making units under different clubs, but unfortunately very few are still active. One such unit, still active, is at the Malabar Christian College.

‘‘Our motto is to make students conscious about the environment and promote self-employment,’’ said Mary Gladays Pavamani, convener of the Ecoclub of the Malabar Christian College.

Students produce more than 300 paper bags a year. The bags made of newspapers are being sold at Nuthan Handicrafts at YMCA Road for Rs 1. Besides, there is good demand for bags among students and the faculty.