Kumbhi Kagaz spreads wings, helps conserve Kaziranga wetlands

It was a busy weekday at the Kaziranga unit of Kumbhi Kagaz. One consignment of paper was ready for delivery. Rupankar Bhattacharjee, one of the proprietors of Kumbhi Kagaz, was talking to the workers, who were at the end of their shift.

Bhattacharjee was visiting the company’s unit at Agoratoli in Kaziranga that was set up a few months back.

Kumbhi Kagaz is a known name in Guwahati. It is the first-of-its-kind company in the North East that makes paper from water hyacinth, or jal kumbha. Bhattacharjee and his friend, Aniket Dhar, started the initiative in 2018 as part of a wetland conservation project. Now, it is an innovative start-up.

Bhattacharjee, an artist and a wildlife rescuer, worked closely with wetlands conservationist Jayaditya Purkayastha to find a solution to the invasive growth of water hyacinth at Dipor Beel in Guwahati. It was then that they realised the species could be used to make paper. It was the beginning of the paper-making unit near the waterbody. This innovation was also mentioned in the 131^st episode of Mann ki Baat.

The Kaziranga journey

Seeing its potential, Dr Sonali Ghosh, the field director of Kaziranga National Park, contacted Bhattacharjee to set up a unit in the eastern range of the park.

“It is a company, so profit is definitely a part of it. However, we (Bhattacharjee and Dhar) call it a conservation company as we always thought that there should be good reason for embarking on a profit-making initiative. Wetlands are vanishing three times faster than forests,” said Bhattacharjee.

He explained that the wetlands in Kaziranga also faced the same problem as Dipor Beel. The waterbodies would be clogged with water hyacinth that affected agriculture and fishery too. However, removing the invasive vegetation with the help of machinery would affect the aquatic flora-fauna balance. This led to a human collaboration, from collecting the raw material (water hyacinth) for the paper to making the sheets.

More than 1 quintal of water hyacinth is collected each day from about three waterbodies in the eastern range of Kaziranga. A tonne of hyacinth yields a kilogram of paper pulp.

Women play a crucial role at Kumbhi Kagaz. Women from the Agoratoli village work at the unit and help in collecting the raw material.

Mamu Loying, the 35-year-old worker at the unit in Kaziranga, said she loved the job that allowed her to earn a livelihood in her spare time.

Rumi Regon Doley (27) is one of the most efficient workers at the Kaziranga unit. She looked worried when this correspondent met her at the unit. The blending machine had broken down and she wanted Bhattacharjee’s help to fix it. The indigenous machine was designed by Bhattacharjee and made locally.

“The mixing machine has developed a problem. We could not finish this batch. If we had a bigger machine, we would have produced more paper in a day,” Doley said.

Bhattacharjee was intently listening to her. Later, he assured her before leaving that Kumbhi Kagaz would acquire better equipment to notch up the efficiency of work.

Efficiency at its best

The unit is a perfect example of jugaad that works like clockwork. It is located within the eastern range of the national park.

Bidyut Bikash Bora, the Eastern Range forest officer, said it was a “great idea” to convert waste into resources.

“Around 30 women are involved in the project and I hope more people come forward,” said Bora.

The villagers work as part of the Eco-development Committees of the state government that help conserve the environment.

Kumbhi Kagaz makes products such as notebooks with handmade paper and sells these online or at government outlets. It is also planning to diversify.

“We want to make yoga mats. I have already undergone training in Nagaon and I am training other women here,” said 24-year-old Maina Pegu, who works at the Kumbhi Kagaz unit in Kaziranga.

This diversification will help Kumbhi Kagaz reach out to a wider section of buyers. “It will be a gradual process because we are start-up. Our main objective remains eco-conservation,” reiterated Bhattacharjee.

Ghosh, the Kaziranga field director, told Sunday Monitor that the initiative at Agoratoli is an experimental model, and if successful, “we will scale it up and involve other villages”.

Kumbhi Kagaz has already shown the way to utilise an ecologically threatening vegetation to make a precious commodity such as paper. The process is also less water-intensive, which is unlike the conventional methods.

“I am a wildlife rescuer and conserving the ecology will be my priority. Kumbhi Kagaz is a way to do that. It is also a way to provide livelihood to villagers, especially women,” reiterated Bhattacharjee.

The popularity of water hyacinth paper among consumers will only pave the way for saving trees, besides the numerous wetlands in Assam and other plains areas.

Banner image by Masudar Rahman: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-on-a-boat-sailing-through-a-lake-covered-with-aquatic-plants-16774456/