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36 JULY 2015
The estate was established
in the year 1864, and has
changed many hands of
ownership to date, with
McLeod Russel india
Limited taking over from the Moran Tea Company in the
latter part of the year 2007. it has a grant area of 780.78 Ha,
of which 384.28 Ha are under tea plantation, the yield of
the garden being 1958 kg/Ha.There are four Divisions here,
namely – Attabarrie, Deroi, Kaliapani and Laujan. The
HACCP certified factory produces 7,50,000 kg of tea per
annum, of which 30,000 kg is orthodox tea. The small tea
growers contribute another 2,00,000 kg annually. The
factory is picturesquely situated on a hillock, this
geographical feature of raised land coming about when the
historical pond was dug.Two Middleton and two Mcintosh
sorters, in spic and span condition, are still in use in the
factory, ever since the sorting system was introduced in the
sixties. Attabarrie is iSO 22000 certified and the Rainforest
Alliance certification was awarded in 2014.
Retired workers, Smti Janani Gogoi, Sri Puneswar
Chaowra, Sri Dutiram Chaowra and Sri Buddhu
Chaowra remember how 4" pruning knives were used
during their time, with only 84 bushes being pruned in a
day, as compared to the 8"/9" knives used nowadays.
Bullock carts were used to transport green leaf from the
Divisions then. Sri Dinabandhu Gogoi, senior staff
member, a veritable storehouse of information, mentioned
a legend connected to the pond, commonly associated
with the ‘pukhuris’ dug during the Ahom era – that of a
golden boat which appeared with utensils in times of the
villagers’ need. when the pond was being cleaned during
one of the British Sahab's time, a gilded vessel containing
gold coins was supposedly found and handed over to him,
for a sum of
`
5 only – a princely amount at the time. it
was said that this area was so affluent during the Ahom
king’s rule, that ‘Boreli’ fish were captured from the pond,
and released once they were fitted with tiny gold nose
rings, as a measure of luck.
Retired Workers
The Sorters
Sri Dinabandhu Gogoi