Working his brains through art and craft from water hyacinth

Hyderabad: Shaik Abdul Mujeeb, a 28-year-old electronic engineer, didn’t want to follow the beaten paths and instead tried to do something innovative. He founded Allika Weave, a startup that uses dried water hyacinth to make handicraft items. Located in Tenali, Allika Weave produces laptop bags, coasters, handbags, lamp shades and dining mats.

Normally, clearing water bodies of water hyacinth is a costly proposition. Government tenders that amount to crores are given for this purpose. Known locally also as the Terror of Bengal, its potential for damage is high. It blocks the openings of canals, affecting smooth flow of irrigation water. Water Hyacinth is one of the fastest growing plants, seen also in lakes and ponds. It denies other plants and sea animals of sunlight and oxygen.

The plant, periodically cleared of lakes and rivers under special efforts of the government, is often thrown on the banks of water bodies or burnt. Once it is burnt, there is another problem: it emits methane gas that is harmful to the environment.

Allika Weave set up by Abdul Mujeeb is now three years old. It has a Facebook page and started supplying products online through CraftKhana. The idea of Allika germinated in Abdul’s mind when a student from his tutorial centre made a cardboard box out of the stem of water hyacinth.

Abdul caught on it, and turned the idea into an enterprise. Supported by UnLtd Hyderabad in the beginning, Allika is now having a collaboration with the Bala Vikasa International Centre.

The Telangana government has encouraged this start-up. Women have been introduced into the art of weaving, as part of skill development training. Allika Weave is the source of livelihood for 70 women from rural areas, and the earnings from this help them run their homes.

The products are handmade, but there is mechanical support to a small extent as well. A roller is used to flatten the stems. The plant is collected mainly from Tenali, Pedaravuru, Jagadiguntapalem and Jagarlamudi.

The prices for the Allika Weave products range from '150 to '3,000. They have a lifespan of 8 to 10 years and are produced using stems and a combination also of jute and clothes that are first dyed.   

Water hyacinth is known to cause itching until it is dried. So, the plant is collected using a protective gear for the hands and is pushed towards the banks using bamboo sticks. With complaints of lakes in Nellore becoming mosquito-breeding centres, Abdul often receives calls from the government and also from waterfront apartments to clear water hyacinths from such water bodies.  

“As we are able to procure large amounts of the plant, we want to expand our product range and are thinking of turning them into furniture as well. I am in touch with an industrial unit in Africa that produces sanitary napkins using the fibre of this plant. I hope to start doing that too.”

With orders coming from across India and abroad, Allika Weave is helping the cause of environment protection in meaningful ways.