After the introduction of new technology and high-tech looms funded by the World Bank, silk fabric production at Kashmir’s government-run 85-year-old Rajbagh Silk Factory has increased eightfold in the past one year.
The production of silk cloth at the factory, on the banks of the Jhelum river in Srinagar, has been decreasing owing to aging workers and old machines. The floods of September 2014, which sent vast swathes of Srinagar underwater, severely damaged the traditional looms of the factory making it defunct for many months.
Post floods, the factory again started production but the output was reduced to a minuscule owing to the damaged machines prompting the World Bank to include it in part of its Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP).
The project was aimed at maintaining the livelihood of people affected by the floods and also the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s heritage buildings.