Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Agra's 'Petha' Industry to Get New Home
By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: Agra's famed "petha", a sweet that originated during the Mughal rule, is about to get a new home. Pethas are just as famous as the Taj Mahal, and no visitor to Agra leaves the city without a kilogram or 2 of the delicious sweet.
A decade ago there were just 2 varieties of petha. But changing times have brought in additional flavors: chocolate, cherry, mango, orange, stuffed petha, coconut petha and even sandwich pethas. But clearly, dry petha, the oldest variety, continues to be hot on the list.
Not many visitors to the Taj city know that the well-known Agra petha is at present manufactured in the narrow lanes of the centuries-old Noori Darwaza market in the heart of city. The industry is to move over to Kalindi Vihar across the river Yamuna. This follows efforts by the Agra Development Authority in the wake of a Supreme Court directive. Registration of plots has begun in Kalindi Vihar.
"Once these small units move out, the whole area in the heart of Agra will be pollution free," an official of the Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board said to Www.mediabharti.com.
Several efforts in the past to persuade these units to switch over to natural gas and biogas and to upgrade the technology for making petha have failed. The wastewater from the petha units and the smoke emitted by the earthen stoves add to the overall pollution load, choking the already overflowing drains. The petha waste attracts not just flies but stray animals.
Supreme Court has banned use of coal in Agra but most of these units have been ignoring the directive. District Magistrate Sanjay Prasad wants the units shifted so that the city's drainage system can be spared of avoidable load from these units.
Besides poor working conditions, the technology and the process of petha making have remained unchanged.
"When the Mughals came and went on a monument building spree, they wanted some cheap and durable sweet stuff that would freshen up the workers in the hot summer months and provide nutritional backup. That's how the petha industry started in Agra," explained Murari Lal, a petha manufacturer at Hospital Road.
The oldest firm, in business since 1885, is Bhimsain's. The latest and perhaps the most popular is Panchi. But there are hundreds of others doing brisk business.
Earlier only 2 types of pethas used to be made. Now they have added a whole new range of flavors and colors, including a stuffed variety that uses dry fruits as fillers.
Agra: Agra's famed "petha", a sweet that originated during the Mughal rule, is about to get a new home. Pethas are just as famous as the Taj Mahal, and no visitor to Agra leaves the city without a kilogram or 2 of the delicious sweet.
A decade ago there were just 2 varieties of petha. But changing times have brought in additional flavors: chocolate, cherry, mango, orange, stuffed petha, coconut petha and even sandwich pethas. But clearly, dry petha, the oldest variety, continues to be hot on the list.
Not many visitors to the Taj city know that the well-known Agra petha is at present manufactured in the narrow lanes of the centuries-old Noori Darwaza market in the heart of city. The industry is to move over to Kalindi Vihar across the river Yamuna. This follows efforts by the Agra Development Authority in the wake of a Supreme Court directive. Registration of plots has begun in Kalindi Vihar.
"Once these small units move out, the whole area in the heart of Agra will be pollution free," an official of the Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board said to Www.mediabharti.com.
Several efforts in the past to persuade these units to switch over to natural gas and biogas and to upgrade the technology for making petha have failed. The wastewater from the petha units and the smoke emitted by the earthen stoves add to the overall pollution load, choking the already overflowing drains. The petha waste attracts not just flies but stray animals.
Supreme Court has banned use of coal in Agra but most of these units have been ignoring the directive. District Magistrate Sanjay Prasad wants the units shifted so that the city's drainage system can be spared of avoidable load from these units.
Besides poor working conditions, the technology and the process of petha making have remained unchanged.
"When the Mughals came and went on a monument building spree, they wanted some cheap and durable sweet stuff that would freshen up the workers in the hot summer months and provide nutritional backup. That's how the petha industry started in Agra," explained Murari Lal, a petha manufacturer at Hospital Road.
The oldest firm, in business since 1885, is Bhimsain's. The latest and perhaps the most popular is Panchi. But there are hundreds of others doing brisk business.
Earlier only 2 types of pethas used to be made. Now they have added a whole new range of flavors and colors, including a stuffed variety that uses dry fruits as fillers.
# posted by mediabhartiwebsolutions @ 4:42 AM 
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