A group of heritage enthusiasts and envoys visited a 118-year-old jute mill on the banks of the Hooghly in North 24-Parganas on Saturday.

Hukumchand Jute Mills, located in Naihati’s Hazinagar, was built in 1907 by the British, but was financed by Hukumchand Jain, a businessman from Indore. In 1988, it was bought over by the late Arun Bajoria. His family has since owned the mill.

Barbara Voss, German consul general, and Jhakka P. Acharya, the Nepalese consul general, were part of the group, alongside other representatives from various consulates housed in Calcutta.

Lata Bajoria, the present owner of the mill, showed them around.

Walking around the compound, the visitors saw the step-by-step processing of raw jute. They saw a 110-year-old pulley pump that still harnesses water from the Hooghly for use in the mill.

There is also a non-functional jetty that used to be the main anchoring point when riverine transportation was the only link of trade and commerce.

"It gives me immense pride to introduce this industrial jute heritage connect and immersive trail, creating awareness for jute, which is an organic vegetable derivative," said Samrat Chowdhury of Baul (Bespoke Art Unique Legacies) Foundation, who curated the walk.

“Both sides of the Hooghly were once dotted with jute mills. Some of the pioneering Europeans who aided this movement were Bird, McKensberry, Thomas Duff, Andrew Yule and Hilgers," Chowdhury told the visitors.

Jute, a coarse fibre used to make fabrics like burlap, has been cultivated for centuries in the warm and humid climate of the Ganges delta. Some of the mills have been in operation for more than a century, and today India is the world's largest producer. But in recent decades, the industry has struggled as less expensive synthetic substitutes have flooded the market. Farmers have turned to other crops, cheap labour has moved elsewhere, and the mills have become outmoded due to a lack of investment.

“Now, jute's weakness is its potential strength. As much of the world seeks biodegradable alternatives to synthetic materials, Indian jute is making its way around the planet, from supermarkets in the US and fashion houses in France to the wine producers in Italy,” said Chowdhury.

Barbara Voss said something that holds for most of the world.

“We only admire the end retail micro jute products, but we hardly know the hard work, from the cultivation fields to the final baling, which I saw here," she said.