The disposed and the fallen hair of womenfolk are no longer a trash but those are now a source of earning a huge forex. In personal initiatives, several hundreds of Hair Processing industries are in operation in various villages under Karpasdanga union of Damurhuda upazila in Chuadanga district. The fate of nearly 20,000 families of the union has been changed positively as each family, males and females, were earning thousands of Taka by processing and selling the hair. Owners of some Hair Processing Industries are now billionaires.
In the Hair Processing Industries, the women workers are seen to straighten the cursed or enfolded hair to some elongated bunches. Those bunches are washed with shampoo and dried in the sunshine. After drying, those are sorted according to the sizes. Then those are tied with the guarders separately according to the sizes and put into the packages. Those hairs are sent to buyers in Dhaka.
According to sources, in 2002, some young men of Karpasdanga Union used to smuggle various things in India. According to the orders from the Indian smugglers, those young men started to supply fallen and removed hair from women's heads to India. Then the buyers from China and Korea used to purchase hair from India. By this time, the buyers could learn that the hairs of Bangladeshi women are long and nice. They arrived in Bangladesh, met with the smugglers of Karpasdanga and proposed to supply them the hair. The young men then abandoned smuggling and started to collect the fallen and removed hair of women. At present at least 2,000 kilograms of hair are collected to Chuadanga from various places of the country and the largest hair hut ( market) in the country is in Karpasdanga.
In a Hair Processing Factory, an efficient worker can earn Taka 15,000 t0 20,000 per month. They receive Taka 100 to 150 for sorting, straightening and cleaning of 100 grams of hair. A female worker at the factory can earn at least Taka 5,000 t0 6,000 per month.
Once upon a time, these young men and women were engaged in smuggling. Now, they collect hair by moving door to door and work in the Hair Processing Industries.
It is learnt, in 2003, the hair processing work started by setting up several small Hair Processing Factories. Now, there are about 500 to 600 small and large factories in the upazila where nearly 20,000 families are employed.
Monir Hossain, the factory owner of Kutubpur village in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga, said that he initially started the factory with 3-4 kg of hair. Currently, his factory processes 30 to 40 kg of hair every day. About 100-150 workers, both male and female, work regularly in his factory.
This bundle of hair is first separated by female workers and subjected to initial cleaning and sorting. Then the selected hair is cleaned by soaking it in water with shampoo. This cleaned hair is taken inside the factory and cut using a cutting machine. The cut hair is also tied into small bundles with rubber and separated. In the factory, these small bundles of hair are called Lachi. This Lachi hair is washed again with shampoo and dried in the air. When the hair is dry and shiny, it is taken to the cutting machine for the last time, measured with a tape, graded and made into Remy. This Remy hair is the finished hair for sale from the factory.
Buyers from China come directly to the factories and buy this hair through their commission agents. There is no problem in selling the hair. Some factory owners go to Dhaka themselves to sell the hair to make an extra profit.
Shahidul Islam, president of Karpasdanga Hair Processing Traders' Association, said, "All the hair traders in our area are doing business quite comfortably without any problems. The price of Remy (processing) hair depends on the length. The longer the hair, the higher the market price. Based on the length of the hair, its market price starts from Taka1,200 for the lowest 6-inch long hair and goes up to Taka 60,000 taka for the highest 22-32-inch long hair."
Currently, 500 to 600 kg of processed hair from the Damurhuda area reaches buyers every day. The average value of this hair is about 1 crore taka.
In recent times, when incidents of defaulting on bank loans to establish various industries are emerging one after another, this hair processing factory, built on its own initiative, has created new areas of potential by creating employment opportunities for thousands of people.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau, the highest export of this hair product was 11.4 million US dollars in the fiscal year 2015-16. Currently, some countries including China are coming to Bangladesh and investing in this sector. As a result, it is believed that even though it is a small sector, it is gradually opening up its potential.
