Powerloom Industry in India
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a POWERLOOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA DON'T QUIT WHEN THIN6S GO WRONG, AS THEY SOMETIMES WILL, WHEN THE ROAD YOU'RE TRUDSINS SEEMS ALL UPHILL, WHEN THE FUNDS ARE LOW AND DEBTS ARE HISH, AND YOU WANT TO SMILE AND YOU HAVE A SISH, WHEN CARE IS PRESSINS YOU DOWN A BIT, REST YOU MUST, BUT DON'T YOU QUIT, LIFE IS QUEER WITH ITS TWIST AND TURNS, AS EVERYONE OF US SOMETIMES LEARNS, AND MANY A FAILURE TURNS ABOUT............... WHEN HE MISHT HAVE WON HAD HE STUCK IT OUT. DON'T eiVE UP THOUGH THE PACE SEEMS LOW- YOU MAY SUCCEED WITH ANOTHER BLOW. SUCCESS IS FAILURE TURNED INSIDEOUT- THE SILVER TINTS OF THE CLOUDS OF DOUBT, AND YOU CAN NEVER TELL HOW CLOSE YOU ARE, IT MAY BE NEAR WHEN IT SEEMS SO FAR; SO STICK TO THE FILGHT WHEN YOU ARE HARDEST HIT ITS WHEN THINGS SEEN WORST THAT YOU MUST WIN. Chapter No. Ill P a r ti Power loom industry in India How old is Weaving? Weaving is the method by which threads are interlaced to make cloth. The principals of weaving have not changed through the ages. Modern textile mills do quickly on machines what ancient peoples did slowly by hand. Cavemen, who lived about thirty thousand years ago, learned how to weave. They used straw, stalks of reed, or other materials to weave by man in prehistoric times. What these ancient peoples did not realize was that cords, could be interlaced to make soft fabrics or cloths. The idea of w'eaving cloth seems to have developed in certain particular places and then spread all over the world. The most ancient woven clothes that we have records of are these: The Near East, about 5000 B.C.; Egypt, about 4000 B.C.; central Europe, about 2500 B.C.; South American Peruvian coast about 1500 B.C. and China, about 1200 B.C. The use of different fibres for weaving developed in various places. Wool was first used when the sheep was domesticated, about 1600 B.C. Cotton was first used in India and Spread from there to Asia and finally to Europe. Silk fibres were first used in China. On the other side of the world, in ancient Peru, the cotton plant and llamas and apices were providing material for making cloth. And since man has always liked to have colorful clothing, it is interesting to know that the ancient Peruvians had already found ways to have more than 150 tints and shades in their cloth. References to weaving are found in the Vedic literature. Method of spinning, the various materials used etc. are also mentioned in these ancients scripts. The history of Textiles is told many times over in the epics, the Puranas. the Graeco- Roman sources of Indian history, and the classical Tamil Sangam Literature. Various techniques of weaving, designing, needlework etc have survived through the centuries. 110 The foundations of the Indian textile trade with other countries began as early as the second century BC. Kalyan, a port, is place in that time from where textiles were exported. A variety of fabrics, including cotton brocade, is mentioned in Chinese literature as Indian products exported to China History of weaving in India From the time immemorial India has been the home of cotton. It is undoubted that the birthplace of the cotton industry of the world is India, but there are differences of opinions as to exactly when the industry began. Some historians consider that India was in flourishing condition during the time Rig Veda was written. The Ramayana, Mahabharta and Puranas contain references to the production of cotton goods in India Mr. F.W. Thomas has said that the earliest mention (of cotton) appears to be in ashvalayana Saruta Sutra (say 800 B.C.) where the material was contrasted with silk and hemp as that of which was made the sacred thread of the Brahmins. The Indian cotton Fabrics had a worldwide importance and was exported to foreign lands during the Buddhist period. Indian excellent handloom products were in great demand not only inside the country but in much foreign land. They were sent abroad in sizeable quantities even in the days of lord Buddha. Since ancient days handloom continued to flourish and in medieval times as well as her cloth manufactured were famous of high artistic skill of craftsman through out the world. Indian cotton was demanded by eastern market from Cairo to china as well as by European market. India exported more than 200 varieties of the cotton through out the world; some of its famous products were Muslin of Decca known as Ab-I-rawan (running water). Bahati hawa (woven air) and shabnam (evening dew). The art of weaving is one of the oldest arts known to mankind. Many of odds and ends of civilization that existed at the beginning of the history show evidence of the art of weaving. It was very early that this art reached a degree of development from a standpoint of texture, beautify and utility that compares favorably with the products of today. The tapestries of the middle ages are unrivalled, as are the silk of ancient China. The modem manufacturer has produced no new products but utilizes the improvements in the process of production that have been brought about in modern times. The spinning wheel has been replaced by the modern automatic Power loom. II The principle on which looms are constructed, is that of manipulating two series of yarn warp and sift so that sharp will be drawn slowly through the loom and interlaced with weft, in order to make cloth some warp threads must be raised and others lowered to product a space though which the weft carried by the shuttle can be passed. This space is called shed. Through this shed the shuttle is thrown leaving a stand of weft. This operation is called picking and the stand of thread left by the shuttle is called a pick. The shuttle leaves the weft at some distance from the edge (called fell) of the cloth already woven. It is therefore necessary to push it for ward of the cloth. This process is called beating up and is done by the ‘slay of the loom’. The slay consists of a large heavy price of wood extending across the width of the loom supported by two pivoted arms called ‘slay swords'. In the slay is placed a grate like comb called the reed through which the warp threads are drawn. The reed evenly spaces the warp yarn and pushes the weft unto the fell or edge of the cloth. After completing the forward movement to beat up the weft, the slay moves backward and the healed raises and lowers the warp threads forming a new shed for the shuttle to pass through and leave the next pick of the weft. This completed the series of fundamental operations necessary to weave cloth. History of power weaving The idea of starting factory production of cotton cloth and yarn in India took shape during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. The first cotton mill in India was established in Calcutta in 1818. The second cotton mill came into existence in 1830 in Bengal. The industry however found its most hospitable home in western India and especially in Mumbai. The first cotton textile mill called the Bombay Spinning and Weaving mill came into existence in Bombay in February 1856. The Indian textile industry consist of. a. Traditional handloom sector with primitive technology b. Power loom sector which is technologically improved from of handlooms and c. Composite mill sector with its advanced technology. Among all the three the handloom sector is more scattered and spread through out the country, and is seen in the villages, power loom sector is decentralized-scattered in and around some identifiable centers and the mill sector which is well organized and integrated to a large extent, a part of which is composite having spinning, weaving and processing under the same roof 112 Power weaving a change There was a change in the fortunes of the industry when yarn and cloth began to be produced on mass scale on power driven machines. The household enterprise handlooms could not face the changing situation. From sunrise to sun down a handloom weaver could not turn out four yards of cloth, while a Power loom on the same hour produces ten times the quality and quantity. The advent of the mill industry to the country was in the great interest of the situation. The birth of the industry was the necessity of environment. Indian mills slowly replaced imported yarn and started supplying yarn to the handloom sector; the use of mill yarn by handloom weavers has brought a profound change in the social and economical status of the handloom weavers. Power loom- the third eye The traditional handlooms and textile mills were trying to fix their places in the industry. But both of them have certain limitations, it gave chance to rise Power loom as a third pillar in the industry to overcome these limitations. Handlooms at one hand have the least speedy production at higher cost and mills on the other hand require huge capital investments and scientific advanced technology. For speedy production on small scale at distant places, the weavers started installing Power loom as 'Decentralised' units. Power loom industry in India After independence many units in mill sector started facing the problems. The technological changes were the need of the time and the mill sector could not meet this requirement.