Bamboo is one of the main building materials used throughout Tripura. Champa Khampa Tarja (“C K Tarja”) wall made of split muli bamboo was largely used in the houses but the same is being replaced by brick cement wall and GCI sheet walls. Since C K Tarja has shorter life span compared to brick wall and GCI sheet walls, bamboo would need to be replaced at shorter intervals. Besides these, bamboo is largely used for making umbrella handles, agarbatti sticks, fencing, agricultural implements, baskets, fishing rods and varieties of handicrafts items and furniture. Not only this, succulent portion of bamboo shoots is eaten by the Tribals and others as vegetables. Also, looking to the therapeutic properties of bamboo shoots, its consumption is on the rise.
Agartala is a major domestic market for bamboo in the State. A considerable quantity is also sent to Kolkata in the form of umbrella handles and to Bangalore in the form of agarbatti sticks. Muli bamboo is exported to Hindustan Paper Corporation operated Paper Mill at Panchgram in the Barak Valley of Assam. Neighbouring Bangladesh, particularly the Noakhali and Comilla districts of Bangladesh, is also very good market for all kinds of forest products with bamboo and thatch in huge demand.
NTFP Centre of Excellence has brought out a publication on the status of Bamboo Resource Development and its utilization in Tripura, which may be referred to for further detailed information on the subject.
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