It has the feel of a cemetery now but used to be a bag tanning unit, employing a unique method of tanning and preparing leather out of buffalo or bullock hide.
Most supplied the raw material that goes into making the handcrafted Kolhapuri chappals that this town is famous for.
Suppliers had stopped sending them hide following the ban on slaughter of cow, bulls, and oxen that came into effect in Maharashtra in 2015.
When business was good, Vathkar says his tanning units employed about 30 people and produced over a hundred pieces of leather a week.
The Mahar-Maangs are one of three Scheduled Caste communities traditionally involved in the process of making Kolhapuri chappals.
“To some extent, there was the sale of buffaloes and buffalo hide but that too has stopped over the past few months.” Since the closing of his tanneries, Vathkar operates as a wholesaler of Kohlapuri chappals and leather material that he procures from other States such as Karnataka and most predominantly now, Tamil Nadu.
It’s far from ideal but Vathkar says a majority of the chappals in Kolhapur are now made with the latter.
The infusion of herbs such as sisal, hirda and babul is what gave the leather in Kolhapuri chappals its particular look and feel As proud as Satpute is of these entries, he admits the Kolhapuri chappal industry has been dying a slow death.
“Chappals that used to cost ₹300 are now sold for ₹500, those that sold for ₹600 now go for ₹900.” There is uncertainty in the leather market, he says, especially after the sale of buffalo for slaughter was also banned, but the rise in prices is along expected lines.
There is much to lament of course, and Kadam freely admits that such chappals may not find their way to his shop after a few years.