ANJALI YADAV/ Dehradun
The centuries-old cobbler’s profession in Dehradun is seeing a rapid decline amid changing customer behaviour and the dominance of low-cost, factory-made footwear pushing traditional repair work towards extinction.
For decades, cobblers were an essential part of the city’s informal economy, especially in bustling commercial hubs such as Paltan Bazaar and Darshan Lal Chowk. That dependence has sharply eroded, landing them in grim survival uncertainty.
Roshan Kumar, who has been working as a cobbler at Darshan Lal Chowk for nearly 25 years, said that the nature of footwear itself has changed. “Earlier, leather and cloth shoes needed regular stitching and repair. Today, plastic and factory-made shoes have replaced everything and repair work has almost vanished,” he lamented. He also sounded anguished over frequent eviction drives, claiming that police often force cobblers to leave. “We suffer because of these drives with our only source of income gone,” he rued.
Vishal Kumar, another cobbler, said that their daily earnings have dropped to Rs 300–400. “It barely covers the essential expenses we meet: electricity and water bills, ration and children’s education,” he said, adding that footwear has become “use-and-throw,” even for weddings and social functions where repairs were once common.
Another cobbler, Rahul Singh, who has been working in Paltan Bazaar for over two decades, articulated the same survival woes, saying that the decline has intensified in recent years. “There are days when I get only two or three customers, sometimes none,” he sighed. According to him, most customers now repair shoes only once before discarding them, leaving shoe polishing as the main source of income for them, which has also declined over the years.
The customers this correspondent spoke to acknowledge the truth behind the cobblers’ survival struggle.
A Doonite, Ravi Joshi said that he prefers replacing shoes rather than repairing them. “Modern footwear does not last long after stitching. Even small damage makes shoes uncomfortable,” he said, citing fashion trends and social influence.
Another customer, Manan Gupta said the same. “Cobblers are now seldom visited as people prefer replacement over repair, for modern shoes cannot be stitched properly,” he said.
