Perfume industry catches a whiff of misfortune in air

Nearly 20,000 farmers in Uttar Pradesh, who produce flowers to give pan masala and gutkha their fragrance, don’t care if the rains come...

Nearly 20,000 farmers in Uttar Pradesh, who produce flowers to give pan masala and gutkha their fragrance, don’t care if the rains come or not. They say the high court ban in the state has sealed their fate.

‘‘The perfume or attar, which gives pan masalas their fragrance, is extracted from flowers being supplied to us from various districts in UP and from Orissa. Now that the masala industry has been banned, there are no takers for the flower crop here. Ninety per cent of the perfume trade in this city is dependent on pan masalas,’’ says Om Prakash Pathak, a perfume manufacturer in Kannauj.

Kannauj is a district nearly 75 km away from Kanpur on the Delhi-Kanpur national highway. It is now reverberating with howls of protest from people earning a livelihood through the attar trade. Last week, the national highway passing through the city was blockaded several times.

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As per rough estimates, more than 35,000 of the total 90,000 population of Kannauj earns a living through the attar industry, explaining the anger over the ban.

‘‘It’s the question of our survival. We have decided to meet top state leaders, including the CM, to request support in saving the industry which is on the brink of closure,’’ says Hari Narain Kapoor, a prominent manufacturer.

Kannauj today has 18 sandal mills, some of which are already closed, and nearly 1,000 small units, that give employment to 1,200 literate workers and more than 50,000 daily wagers. Since the ban, some units have shut operations while others are running at minimum capacity.

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