Big boost for Tripura’s eco-friendly items! Rising global demand for bamboo water bottles made in Agartala

The flagship Van Dhan bottles of the TRPC are offered in two variants so far. (Image: ANI)

Tripura bamboo bottles: Great initiative! In a push towards eco-friendly products, locals in Agartala have been working on hand crafting water bottles out of bamboo, according to news agency ANI. The agency quoted Bamboo and Crafts Development Institute (BCDI) in-charge Avinab Kanth as saying that currently the bamboo water bottles are witnessing great market and demand due to people’s willingness to buy eco-friendly goods. Based on this rising demand, the Tripura Rehabilitation Plantation Corporation (TRPC) has also begun making bamboo water bottles in Bamutia, ANI said. It also quoted TRPC MD Prasant Rao as saying that the process of manufacturing these bottles is completely organic.

Last month, a report in IE had stated that the locally produced, eco-friendly products in Tripura are finding buyers across the country and abroad. It stated that based on the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana, Tripura locals had been making these bamboo water bottles for six months. Among the buyers of the first batch of 100 bottles was Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon, whose post on Twitter about the bottle gave the demand for the products a much-needed push. The first batch of bottles was shipped to several parts across India at the end of June.

The report had stated that Rao, who is also an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, was the mastermind behind this initiative. The report added that to launch the project, Rao created several prototypes, conducted extensive research of available literature and also reached out to the BCDI as well as Centre of Forest Livelihood and Extension (CFRE) for their help in bringing this vision to fruition.

Furthermore, he also roped in a group of 10 traditional artisans from various districts of the state to start off the project. He had then told IE that bamboo water bottles were much superior than the products currently available in the markets, since they were properly treated and did not actually store the water directly on the surface of the bamboo.

He added that bamboo bottles made in China were available in the market, but they used cheap and light bamboo columns. Moreover, they also stored the water directly on the bamboo surface, leading to bad odour and building up of fungi, which could harm the consumers of such water.

The flagship Van Dhan bottles of the TRPC, the report said, were offered in two variants so far – copper containers or thermal flasks. Both variants are encased in columns of treated bamboo.