Bengal’s first jute mill— rich past, fraying future

The first jute factory to be set up in West Bengal was in the Barrackpore Industrial Area. The Gouripur Jute Mill in Naihati could have been one of the largest industrial estates in the country. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

Jute production is a major industry in West Bengal. Most of the mills in the state are concentrated along the banks of Hooghly river in Howrah, Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts. In pic: Gouripur jute mill. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

The locals claim that the country's largest jute mill was first built in Naihati by British industrialist McLean Berry. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

McLean set up a huge factory. The work of extracting golden yarn from jute fibre began. The sacks made by Gouripur Jute Mill were shipped abroad. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

The original inhabitants of the area were by no means ready to work as factory workers. So, people from different provinces were called. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

In the nineties, one factory after another began to close. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

The Nadia Jute Mill Quarter now houses a total of 100 families. Every day, some or the other part of the housing is collapsing. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

Naihati Nadia Jute Mill has remain closed for the past two-and-half years. The workers did not get money from the owner. Several families continue to live here, in the hope of getting their due money. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

Nadia Jute Mill near Naihati Railway Station, Naihati Jute Mill in Hajinagar, IPP Paper Mill are all just part of history now. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

There used to be a time, when people from all around the country used to come and work in Naihati. No one knew that their condition would become so miserable in the yers to come. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)