Krishnagar, Nov. 2: Kansa or bell metal is now almost a forgotten chapter in the life of a middle-class Bengali. About 1,000 villagers of Nadia, who for generations have been making utensils and cooking implements out of the alloy of tin, iron and copper, have fallen on hard times.

Utensils made of kansa were once a must in almost every Bengali household but with the steel and aluminium industries booming in the state for the past three-and-a-half decades, most households across Bengal have gradually shifted to these metals. The main reasons are that steel and aluminium utensils are lighter and cheaper.

Nadia had become famous for high-quality kansa utensils. But today, around 1,000 manufacturers from 11 villages of Krishnagar, Nakashipara and Kaligunj blocks are in the grip of poverty.

“There are hardly any people in Calcutta who use kansa utensils except for pujas and weddings. In the districts, too, those who used kansa utensils till the other day are now shifting to steel and aluminium,” said 40-year-old Sufal Biswas of Nakashipara, 130 km from Calcutta.

Another kansa artisan, Sanjit Sarkar, 50, a resident of Matiary village in Kaligunj, used to earn about Rs 3,000 a month 20 years ago selling kansa utensils. Today, he brings home a meagre Rs 1,000 a month selling such utensils.

Sarkar is now forced to cultivate paddy on a 10-cottah plot to support his family of three children, wife and ailing mother. “I have been forced by circumstances to take up farming because I had the land. Business (in kansa utensils) is very bad and there are virtually no customers,” said Sanjit.

The administration has come forward to help the artisans by training them at Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh on how to diversify. In Moradabad, the artisans have set up a centre where craftsmen from various states go for training.

“The artisans have talent but they need to diversify. Plates and glasses of kansa alone will no longer fetch money. They have to learn to make flower vases, idols and ornaments, which can fetch higher returns if marketed professionally,” said district magistrate Onkar Singh Meena.