Kolkata, Aug 28 (KNN) The West Bengal government is setting up an industrial centre for production of handicrafts from water hyacinth at Purbasthali I block in East Burdwan, reported Millenniumpost.

As per reports, the state government has allocated funds of around Rs 48 lakh for the project which will come up at Tulsidanga under Samudragarh Gram Panchayat area.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in September last year had said that various things like mats, bags, food plates etc can be produced from water hyacinth.

The West Bengal Minister of Animal Resource Development, Swapan Debnath said, “Waterbodies at Purbasthali abound in water hyacinth and during festivals we have to undertake cleaning up of the ponds. We have been toying with the idea of developing an industry using water hyacinth which would be an effective source of alternative employment of people.”

Debnath recently visited the proposed site for the industrial centre along with senior officials of Bengal Khadi and Village Industries Board and local rural administration.

“The land has already been identified and now we will take up the work for developing infrastructure. The first phase of work will be training followed by setting up space for storage of raw materials. The next phase will be production and the final and most important marketing of the handicraft products,” Debnath said.

The state government has commenced the training process for the local women to produce handicrafts from water hyacinth.  (KNN Bureau)