The 500-year-old legacy of Majuli Island’s potters is at risk as the River Brahmaputra slowly swallows their land and, ironically, measures to prevent erosion only add to the potter’s woes, never mind the next generation’s lack of interest in the art.
“The fresh year brings new hopes and aspirations for people across the globe. But not for us,” said Maijon Borah (75), a woman potter who lives in Salmora village in Majuli Island. “We just live for the day and do not think further since our survival is at stake.”
Salmora village in Assam’s Majuli Island is popularly known as potters’ village as 600 families here have been involved in pottery work for the past 500 years. They mostly make small oil lamps for festivals and earthen pitchers that are used for storing water and traditional rice-beer in Assam.
The majority of the potters are women as the local men usually migrate to other states to earn their livelihood.
Spread over 553 square kilometres, Majuli is surrounded by the River Brahmaputra – known as the “sorrow of Assam”. The river’s ferocious nature has long devoured vast stretches of land that were once human settlements and agricultural fields.
So it is not surprising that Salmora village is also slowly eroding, forcing the inhabitants to move several times in the last few decades, hurting their livelihood.
Lands lost to the river
“The river has been inching closer with each passing day and soon it will swallow us like a hungry monster,” said Maijon Borah.
“Our houses have gone under water at least 10 times since 1950, forcing us to move every time, carrying our household items and children as we go,” she said. “Sometimes, the river swallowed our savings when the water seemed to be in a mad hurry to consume everything and we were trying to save our children.”
According to the South Asian Forum for Environment (SAFE), a non-profit organisation creating alternative livelihoods for the local people, around 700 square kilometres have been lost due to erosion in the past seven decades.
Saben Kalita, the field co-ordinator with SAFE, said the intensity of the erosion has reduced slightly after the state administration took some measures like placing geo bags and erecting triangular concrete structures called porcupines along the river banks.
“But still the erosion cannot be stopped completely,” Kalita said.
Pottery clay out of reach
However, the administration’s measures to save Majuli have aggravated the plight of the potters.
“The administration has prohibited the collection of clay from the river bank to prevent erosion,” said Bulu Bhuyan, a 42-year-old woman potter.
The clay which was easily available has now become an expensive commodity, which the potters now must bring from other districts across the river, increasing costs.
“We somehow manage to survive and continue with our age-old occupation because of the lack of other livelihood opportunities here,” said Bulu Bhuyan.
The potters said that inflation, coupled with the pandemic, has dealt them a severe blow.
“The cost of wood, fuel and other raw material used for making earthen items have increased manifold in the past few months, which has lowered our profit. It’s now just a matter of survival and nothing beyond that,” said potter Madan Mohan Borah (78).
A disappearing tradition
The future appears to be grim for the potter community as the youth are not keen to carry on their legacy.
“I’d rather settle for a job in a city rather than making earthen items that hardly bring any profit. I have seen my mother toiling hard for several hours per day, but the return doesn’t equal her labour. It’s better to look for a well-paid job rather than spend hours in the mud with no returns,” said Malvika Bhuyan (18), Bulu Bhuyan’s daughter.
“The government’s measures to curb erosion have not been enough. We are like sitting ducks waiting helplessly,” rued Dipali Hazarika (40), a potter.
Senior officials of Brahmaputra Board tasked to control soil erosion said they have taken adequate measures to save Majuli.
“We’ve been placing geo bags on banks that are eroding fast. We have placed concrete porcupines to reduce the velocity of water hitting the bank,” said AK Deka, the executive engineer of the board. “The geo bags are changed after every monsoon as most of them get washed away.”
But the potters are concerned.
They all sadly conceded that time when the rich legacy of Salmora will be lost is drawing nearer.
“It’s been a challenge to live here every day. The new year will hardly bring a change to our lives. The river will only inch closer,” said Maijon Borah.
Gurvinder Singh is a journalist based in Kolkata.
