In Ludhiana, tailors respond by switching from kurtas to masks

gurdwara in Payal have offered donations to the project.

“There was an acute shortage of masks in the market and so we decided to make best use of our talent. It takes us about 20 minutes to make a mask which can be washed and re-worn many times,” said 36-year-old Nihal Ahmad, one of the tailors in Payal, a nondescript town located close to NH-44, which runs through the middle of Punjab and outskirts of Ludhiana city. The tailors themselves are taking precautions like using sanitiser and sitting at a distance from each other inside a shop, Ahmad said.

The administration has sourced the fabric from suppliers in the city. One of the suppliers, Rajiv Grover of Ram Pal and Company in Payal, said he supplied five metres of cotton fabric to the tailors last week but it was a struggle as the shops are closed due to the lockdown. “We are getting in touch with traders and manufacturers who are donating,” he said.

An advisory issued by the ministry of health and family affairs last week stated that homemade protective masks helped maintain “personal hygiene” and could be used by those who weren’t suffering from any medical condition or didn’t have any breathing difficulty, especially while stepping out. However, such masks were not recommended for Covid-19 patients or those involved in their care including healthcare workers and medical professionals.

“The supply of fabric is not an issue,” sub-divisional magistrate Sagar Setia said, adding that district authorities have supplied the cloth required to make these masks. All of them are being made using three layers of cloth.