Saturday, February 6, 2010

 Longest doormat - world record set by Travancore Cocotuft Ltd

 CHERTHALA, Kerala, India -- The mat made at Travancore Cocotuft (P) Ltd factory measures 101.6 meters (333.3ft) in length, 1.2 meters (4ft) in width, is 30mm thick and weighs 999 kg , setting the world record for the Longest doormat .

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   The Longest doormat is an outcome of four-month effort of four workers consuming 470,000 coir tufts, inserted between alternate wefts of coir yarn.
   Total cost of this, 101.6 meters long, 1.2 meters wide and 30 mm thick mat, is over Rs 400,000.

 "Although the coir industry is faced with a plethora of problems, including scarcity of raw materials and shortage of trained man power, largely resulting from migration of workers to the more lucrative construction sector, our mission was to draw the attention of the authorities to this crisis-ridden traditional (coir) sector," said P. Mahadevan , CEO of the company.

   The Longest doormat was formally released during the inauguration of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Central Coir Research Institute (CCRI) of the Coir Board. The two-day event was inaugurated by Union Minster of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Dinsha Patel Thursday.

    The Longest doormat is an idea of Mr. Mahadevan, inspired by Alappuzha BDS project of SIDBI executed by Cluster Pulse.

    The Longest doormat will be exhibited at the Buckingham Palace and will also be presented before President Ms. Pratibha Patil, and finally, be offered to the Coir Museum, he informed.

   The coir industry in Kerala has a history that spans over a century and employs in excess of 1.5 lakh weavers and spinners numbering four lakhs in the state.

   Lack of modernisation in the industry and a stiff rise in wages of workers have resulted in only 50 percent of coconut husks being used in the coir industry, while the rest is being used as fuel in rural areas.    

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