Traditional broom-making occupation is dying

Traditional broom-making occupation is dying gradually and it is feared that it will force hundreds of families mostly women to be jobless who have been engaged in this skill at Karachi coastal villages through their forefathers.
At least 200 families living in Budhni village, Keamari Town, which have been engaged in this occupation, are looking for better alternate for the survival of their poor families.
The women can be seen busy in beating date tree leaves, tying floor brush with metal strings and making piles for the sale.
Carrying bundles of brooms these illiterate women can be seen wandering in the streets of Mauripur, Kharadar and Lyari to sale their product at a bargain price. Around 50 to 100 women of this village go to different warehouses located at Hawks Bay road and earn Rs 70 daily for 10-hour labour.
All members of family from eight-year old child to 70-year old woman work till late night to finish 100 pieces of brooms daily. Raw material is supplied daily at their doorsteps. They make 70 to 100 brooms from each bunch.
"We get up early in the morning and work till late night but in return we receive meager amount for our products," said Rahima Raib, 43, while talking to newsman at her home. She was making brooms at her wide courtyard in the locality.
Fatima, another woman, who has two sons working in a private company as cooks, continues brooms making along with her daughter-in-law. "We do not sleep before 12-00 in the night. Middleman takes away this product in little price. He buys 100 brooms in Rs 250 while he sales the same in Rs 400 in the market," she said.
Entire family earns only Rs 40 to Rs 60 daily from 100 brooms that is a meager amount, they said.
Mandhro Bhand said that since the raw material of brooms had become expensive it was not feasible for us to continue that occupation, adding since the price hike, increasing unemployment and poverty had hit those families, the womenfolk had also to continue that work despite hardships to support their families.
Traditionally, these families were engaged in camel grazing in the Indus Delta, district Thatta and were seasonal migrants. They used to live six months in Thatta coast and rest of six months in Karachi coastal areas to feed their camels.
Since the fresh water shortage had declined in the river Indus grazing fields were destroyed by sea intrusion. Majority of these families had also been engaged in traditional fishing through their forefathers but since the fish catch started declining these families have been affected badly.
In the past making brooms, embroidery and other handicrafts were the pastimes for these traditional women but when their only source of livelihood fishing came under threat of depletion they took the broom making as source of income.