The festival of colours is right round the corner. And here is an opportunity to celebrate Holi by replacing the traditional gulal with its more eco-friendly and natural counterpart.
For the third consecutive year, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) has come up with a range of eco-friendly natural colours prepared by tribal women.
Unlike conventional colours that are laced with chemical dyes, eco-friendly colours are derived from extracts of flowers, barks of tree and roots, which are natural and do not have any harmful impact on the human body.
The eco-friendly colours of ANGRAU are being marketed by Hyderabad Goes Green and Aurora Business School.
“Holi has always been a nightmare for me because of the dangers of synthetic colours. Eco-friendly colours are the best way to celebrate Holi. Thanks to the annual awareness drives, gradually, people are realising the importance of eco-friendly colours,” said Amala Akkineni, who launched the eco-friendly colours and ‘Green and Clean Holi' campaign of Hyderabad Goes Green here on Thursday.
Colour sources
“Flower sources of Kesula and marigold produce yellow colour. Mehendi and dried leaves provide us with the colour green, red sandalwood powder extract has been used to produce shades of red. Barks of certain trees provide brown colour while beet root gives magenta shade,” dean, Home Science, ANGRAU, A. Sharada Devi, who is leading the eco-friendly colours project, said.
Thanks to the huge demand, this year, ANGRAU officials said that 1.5 tonnes of natural colour has been prepared by the tribal groups. In all, five colours including blue, pink, orange, green and yellow will be available.
“Last year we had prepared one tonne of natural colours. We roped-in women from slum settlements of Borabanda to do the packaging. A pack of five colours of 100 grams each would cost Rs.200,” said CEO and director, Hyderabad Goes Green, G. Abhinav.
Ten more counters will be opened in various parts of the capital in due course. For details: 74167-90905/www.
hyderabadgoesgreen.com.
