Traders give cops a hair-raising time!

10 January 2013

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 10 JAN: Angry traders gave East Midnpore police a hair- raising time for failing to trace a truck ferrying Rs 4 crore of processed human hair that was hijacked on its way from way from Chandipur to Nimtouri two days back.
Hundreds of traders in human hair, who painstakingly collect women's locks from villages and sell these to exporters, today vandalised Chandipur police station in East Midnapore.
The incident occurred following an altercation with the police over the failure to trace the hair-laden Nimtouri bound vehicle. As the police have not recovered the lorry yet, nor made any arrests, the infuriated hair dealers  vandalised the Chandipur police station in East Midnapore.
Hours before they vented their fury on the police station, they set up a road block on the Digha- Nandakumar state highway at Chandipur for over an hour but relented after the police invited them to the police station to hear them out. . “The police  were sitting on the  matter. When we realized this, some of us attacked the police station and damaged some chairs and tables”, a protestor said. Police officials, however, denied any inaction and said, “We are trying our best to recover the hijacked lorry, but have no leads yet”.
According to a hair trader, hair collected from different villages and towns across the state is sent to Andhra’s West Godavari district, where the small town of Eluru is the hub of India’s hair export trade. Chandipur is one of the main hair collection centres in West Bengal and these hair-laden vehicles   then head to Andhra Pradesh.  Hair processing units, where each worker cleans, grades, and packs around 300-400 gm daily, then ensure that shipments meet the specifications of large importers in China. China is India's top customer for human hair, said Pratap Jana, a hair trader in Chandipur.
As village women don’t dye, bleach and streak their hair - at least for now,  even their comb remnants fetch a far higher price in world markets than average temple hair, which is usually shorter than 16 inches.
“In fact, Tirupati and all the temples together contribute only 20 out of every 100 locks of premium hair sold. The rest are patiently procured from village women, who are quite happy to exchange hair headed for the dustbin with the fancy clips and baubles offered by the “hair collector” who comes with his bag once a week”, Mr Jana said.
Another trader said, “Rural hair sells for a premium because it is untouched by any chemicals and rarely more than two or three human hands. Not surprisingly then, comb waste sells for Rs 1,225 per kilogram.”
But even village belles are slowly losing their lustrous lengths. “Earlier we would get 40-inch long hair from villages. Now it is rarely more than 30 inches. But even so, it is longer than Tirupati first grade, which rarely crosses 26 inches,” said Amulya Dey, a hair collector.
“The procurement chain, from village to hair export units, is highly informal and nebulous. Even, many hair collectors themselves do not know who organises the collectors and ensures adequate volumes”, said a police officer.