Kathmandu. The historic Taksar Bazaar of Bhojpur is known as an area with industrial, commercial and cultural identity. Traditional metal materials, especially brass, brass utensils and other materials, have been manufactured in Bhojpur for a long time.

This traditional occupation that has been going on for generations has been facing crisis in recent years due to the shortage of coal needed for smelting metals. From the Panchayat era until the establishment of multiparty system, metal factories operating in Taksar used to produce goods worth millions of rupees.

The brass utensils and other materials produced here used to be transported to various cities in the district as well as Terai. Binod Tamrakar, a local, said that the Taksar bazaar is gradually deserted in recent period due to shortage of coal and raw materials, increase in input cost and decreasing attraction of the new generation towards the profession.

According to him, the biggest problem of the domestic industry operators here is the shortage of coal. According to him, they are compelled to cut down trees to produce coal as coal required for the operation of the industry is not easily available in the market.

“Coal is mandatory from the beginning to the end of the brass work”, he said, adding, “It is very difficult to get coal now. ”

Hundreds of metal factories that were in operation decades ago have now been reduced to just five. Suraj Bahadur Udas, another local, said that not only coal, but other raw materials including wax have also become difficult to make a living.

“The work of bronze is not possible without coal,” he said, adding, “Everyone needs coal to melt bronze and wax. ”

According to the locals, the metal industry of Taksar, which gained fame during the Rana and Panchayat regimes, had created local employment and revived the regional economy. However, these traditional industries are gradually collapsing due to migration of locals, lack of raw materials, inability to compete with modern industries and lack of government support.

Locals have been insisting on facilitation in coal supply, programmes to promote traditional industries and policies targeting Kaligadh to protect the historic identity of Tuksar.