Bhubaneswar, May 4: What is convenient for tourists may not always be good for tourism.

Tourists heading for Puri from Bhubaneswar prefer to use the Pipili bypass road since the facility was thrown open to traffic in 2015. The road has reduced the travel time between the two places. While earlier it used to take around two hours, now it takes one-and-a-half hours to reach Puri using the bypass.

However, the facility has compounded the plight of appliqué makers and traders of Pipili, about 20km from Bhubaneswar, as it has robbed them of the bulk of their clientele, because the tourists hardly ever make a stopover at the Pipili market these days.

Besides, lack of patronage and shrinking profit margins have left them a worried lot.

"They all take the bypass route because it is shorter. Very few visit this market. Our business has plunged sharply since this road came into existence. It is down by almost half. Earlier, each one of us used to make between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh every month on an average. Now, we consider ourselves lucky if we manage to earn Rs 40,000," said Rabi Narayan Mohapatra, an appliqué trader of Pipili. Rabi is also a member of the local co-operative society for the promotion of the craft.

Profit margins are also getting thinner because of the paucity of buyers. "If earlier we had made a profit of Rs 30 by selling a lampshade costing Rs 80, nowadays it gets nothing more than Rs 20, because with fewer buyers coming we have to agree to their demands.

The bargain is almost always in the buyers' favour," he said, adding that neither the state government nor the local co-operative society had done much to help the traders and the craftsmen. Rabi said the co-operative society became defunct and had not met for the past one year.

Pramod Mohapatra, another appliqué shop owner at Pipili, agreed. "Earlier, the government used to frequently organise exhibitions outside the state. That was a great platform for the craftsmen to showcase their skills and for us to sell appliqué products in bulk. They also used to pay for our travel. But, such activities have now practically stopped," he said.

Appliqué making is an exacting craft that involves stitching pieces of colourful cloth onto a base material. Though many craftsmen now use velvet cloth as it lends shine to the product, cotton is still preferred. However, as Rabi pointed out, getting good cotton cloth is becoming increasingly difficult after the closure of Odisha Textile Mills in the wake of 1999 super cyclone. "Now, we get cloth from Surat, but the colour is not fast and it often creates problems," said Rabi.

Sambalpuri Bastrayala managing director Sanatan Dalei said that whether they were weavers of Sambalpuri saris or appliqué craftsmen, the government would sort out their problems. He, however, refused to specify the revival strategies.