Muhamma, located on the western bank of Vembanad Lake, is dotted with coir units. It is home to a number of coir cooperative societies and individual units engaged in coir yarn spinning, production of mats, and coir geotextiles. But several small-scale units now lie dormant.
Vijayan, 67, has seen many ups and downs in the industry. After working in a coir factory for several years, he started his own fibre and creel mat production unit 18 years ago. His unit made a profit until three months ago. Now, cobwebs cover the unit and six traditional looms have gone to seed. “I closed down the unit after failing to get any orders in recent months,” says Mr. Vijayan, pointing to a stack of unsold mats.
