Source: Kumbhi Kagaz
Guwahati, April 8: Considered as an aquatic weed that breeds quickly and adapts well to any environmental conditions- water hyacinth locally known as meteka has garnered a bad reputation for itself as the invasive plant endangers the ecosystem because their existence reduces other populations and biodiversity.
The non-indigenous plant is a South American species that has found its way to India, through Kolkata during the British colonial rule as an ornamental aquatic plant. It is a fast growing weed that spreads quickly and plays a havoc for the water bodies. Due to this, it caused fish scarcity in Bengal following which it was termed as ‘Terror of Bengal’.
Assam's only Ramsar site, Deepor Beel is covered in vast swathes of water hyacinth. Renowned Herpetologist, Jayaditya Purkayastha, while speaking to The Assam Tribune about water hyacinth and the problems they pose for Deepor Beel said, “Water bodies has self-healing system where sun plays a vital role for the ecosystem, but when water hyacinth took over it blocks the sun rays and oxygen necessary for the aquatic life to flourish. Moreover, the rate of transpiration is higher in water hyacinth which is responsible for loss of water levels.”
Found abundantly in Assam the water hyacinth has roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. The aquatic floating plant can survive even in polluted reservoirs, lakes, ponds, and rivers. The infamous weed, however, turned out to be a sustainable element after it has been widely used as a raw material to weave a wide array of products from bags and mats to biodegradable paper.
In the year 2021, two youths from Guwahati, Assam - Rupankar Bhattacharjee and Aniket Dhar were recognised for their efforts for making printable handmade paper from meteka. The duo, with their innovation won the Zero Waste Cities Challenge which was aimed at finding entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas that can help reduce or recycle waste and create green employment opportunities. Both Rupankar and Aniket through rigorous process of learning and unlearning embarked on an entrepreneurial journey with Kumbhi Kagaz which specialises in making 100% biodegradable, blot-free and chemical-free handmade paper from water hyacinth.
“The idea of making paper out of water hyacinth kicked off while I was rescuing a python in Azara along with my mentor Jayaditya Purkayastha, who introduced me to the pros and cons of the troublesome weed. He later advised me to make paper out of the fibres of meteka,” said Rupankar while speaking to The Assam Tribune. Being inclined towards science, with a commerce background and an installation artist by passion- who can make sculptures from scrap, the idea piqued his curiosity and he delved deeper on the possibilities of turning meteka fibres into paper.
“The lockdown period gave us ample amount of opportunity to experiment on the paper making procedure. I started to make frames for the paper. However, my goal was to achieve making paper that is free from chemicals. In 2021, we cracked the code and finally attempted to make paper from organic fibre. We used 90% of the pulp of water hyacinth and 10% of recycled paper which comprises 23% of the accumulated waste dumped in the landfills,” informed Rupankar.
The idea behind Kumbhi Kagaz was not just the eradication of water hyacinth completely but to bring about a sustainable change in a step-by-step manner. Although several schemes were there but they were unable to sustain because there was a lack of business model. “The main aim of Kumbhi Kagaz is to conserve the wetland and ecosystem but through a model which also creates wealth and support the livelihood of people dependent upon the wetland,” added Purkayastha.
The effort was not just limited to making chemical free paper but it was also focused on controlling the growth of water hyacinth in Deepor Beel and adding recycled paper as well, to contribute towards the waste management part.
“After several attempts we finally made it and I along with Aniket figured out how to carry forward this work. Inside Out was our first venture through which we won the Zero Waste competition and now we have transformed it into Kumbhi Kagaz, operations for which has been started from January this year,” added Rupankar.
He further informed that the best part about the paper is it consumes very less water. A normal A4 size paper usually requires 20 ltrs of water for manufacturing one sheet. However, one A4 size paper at Kumbhi Kagaz may not be bright or white because it is handmade, but only consumes 2 ltr of water.
The handcrafted rustic paper is moulded into a variety of products including calendars, notebooks, visiting cards, greetings cards and invitation cards. The glimpse of the notebook gives a look at the rich wildlife of Assam that portrays the rhino, tiger, elephant and hargila (adjutant stork) among others elements that celebrates Assam.
The collection of raw materials is made through local people at Deepor Beel who collect the water hyacinth when the water dries up. “Usually, the evil part of water hyacinth starts after it dries up. The dried area of land, where water hyacinth accumulates will get stuck and during monsoon when water fills up it remains attached to the ground and will get decayed below, that’s how siltation takes place. This reduces the water holding capacity of the water bodies. Last December, we cleared around 8 bighas of area and collected 42 tonnes of green water hyacinth and after drying we are left with around 4 tonnes of the fibre, so that is sufficient for one year of manufacturing as of now as per our production capacity,” asserted Rupankar.
The duo has found a way to turn the weed into a livelihood source for the communities dependent on the wetlands by engaging them in the collection of water hyacinth. The team comprises of two employees and 14 to 15 people are indirectly associated with the paper making procedure. While Rupankar looks after the business and factory management, Aniket on the other hand looks after branding and IT department.
Both Rupankar and Aniket believe that although the procedures like collection, treating, cleaning and drying of water hyacinth is time consuming, the result is worth it. They are hopeful that the business will thrive following which they will expand it and explore more possibilities. As of now they are focusing on the conservation of Deepor Beel by extracting the invasive weed and making sustainable and eco-friendly material that have minimal impact on the environment.
