Myagdi, Sept 4 . Wood carving profession is facing existential crisis here with the shortage of timber used for carving and the dwindling sale of woodenware.
As a result, people who are in this profession are finding it hard to eke out a living from the profession.
Shree Krishnalal Bishwakarma of Pulachaur Chipleti, Beni municipality-5, who is into this profession since many years, expressed despair saying that a situation has come such that the people dependent on this profession for living have to abandon it.
He said that the wooden utensils he manufactures hardly sell these days as people like to opt for plastic or aluminium wares instead of the traditional wooden ones. Bishwakarma used to sell his wooden products in the district headquarters Beni, Galeshwar and other places. According to him the sale of woodenware has drastically dropped these days.
He used to earn Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 monthly by selling the wooden wares. As he said, wooden articles even do not sell during special occasions like festivals and trade fairs of late. Bishwokarma barely earns Rs 5,000 a month now-a-days.
Many people who were into this profession have abandoned it for other profitable ones.