With the winter setting in, the shawl makers in Delduar upazila are now busy producing various colourful pieces of the item as they consider it as their peak season.

Local weavers here have already gained popularity for shawls, locally known as chador, like that of their traditional sari.

Although produced in many places in the upazila, shawls made in two villages -- Abadpur and Elasin -- are of great fame. Over 100 families in the two villages have been maintaining their livelihood by producing the item for years.

Shawl is produced in handlooms and the weaving process is similar to that of sari.

The varieties of shawl produced in Delduar include du suti, pair, kirkiri, noyon tara, bohurupi etc and their prices range from Tk 300 to Tk 1000, workers said.

Local handloom owners said, they produce shawl often as per designs given by the wholesalers.

The wholesalers also supply the necessary yarn, they said.

The period from October to February is the peak season for producing the items while the rest period of the year generally sees dull business, they added.

While visiting Abadpur and Elasin villages, this correspondent saw that not only the family members of the weavers, but also the poor women and their children in the localities were engaged in the job.

Local handloom owners Safar Ali, Jahangir Mollah and Iqbal Bhuiyan told this correspondent that depending on designs, they getTk 60 to Tk 80 from the wholesalers for producing each shawl.

"I can earn Tk 15,000 to Tk 20,000 per month through producing shawls in my eight handlooms during the peak period," said Lutfar Rahman of Abadpur village.

Weaver Budu Miah of the

same village said, they can make sixto seven items a day and earn Tk 40 to Tk 50 per shawl.

"I can earn Tk 7,000 to Tk 8,000 a month during the peak season," he added.

Wholesaler Iqbal Hossain said, he, like the others from Dhaka, gives alternative designs and colourful yarns to the handloom owners to produce their shawls.

"The demand for shawls is increasing at different markets in the country due to their eye catching designs and reasonable prices," he said.

"Of course, they see highest sale in the winter time", he added.