One of the largest eri producing cocoon states, Assam's artisans are withdrawing from their tradition of weaving eri cloth, a natural warm silk made of yarns derived from the cocoons of eri worms. This cloth is known to be wholly organic and thus has great demand in other parts of the country and abroad. The main reason why artisans are withdrawing from this tradition is lack of proper equipment to produce the weft yarn from silk cocoons. Now, a new charkha has been innovated to get rid of the problem of spinning the weft yarn of eri silk. The new invention is aimed at checking the massive flight of eri cocoon to other parts of the country.
The new charkha has been invented by former North Eastern Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Jorhat S N Choudhury and his mechanical engineer son KN Choudhury, at their workshop in Shreenagar. It is named Choudhury Eri Spinning Charkha-II. This charkha is expected to eliminate problems with spinning.
The charkha can be operated manually in both, right and left directions through an adjustable pedal, and weighs around 6.5 kg. The equipment is made of wood, brass and steel parts, bearing and bushings. About 250 grams of weft yarn of around 25 counts can be produced with the help of this equipment within eight hours.
