Noida: Herbal colours in demand this Holi

Residents’ welfare associations have been asking their members to spread awareness on using herbal gulaal instead of concentrated colours to reduce water use.

This Holi, residents are opting for herbal gulaal and are reducing the use of chemical colours to conserve water.

Residents are concerned about ill-effects of chemical colours on their skin. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

Residents’ welfare associations have been asking their members to spread awareness on using herbal gulaal instead of concentrated colours to reduce water use.

The demand for herbal colours has gone up in the market and shopkeepers are of the view that the demand for chemical colours and concentrates has been decreasing over the last few years.

“Nowadays, few people buy strong colours or normal gulaal. Most of the educated people ask for herbal or organic gulaal. Only young and less educated people are not bothered about the quality of the colour,” Ramesh Yadav, a shopkeeper at Atta market, Noida, said.

Another person, Hari Om, who has been selling Holi colours for the last 10 years is of the opinion that in the next few years, people will buy only branded colours and stop buying chemical ones that are openly sold.

“People are now aware of the ill-effects of using poor quality colours. I have been setting up a small shop of colours every year in Noida but for the last few years, the number of people buying colours (chemical powder) has reduced. People now prefer herbal or organic colours and also, they buy it only from reputed shops,” Om said.

The Federation of Noida residents’ welfare association has asked its members to use minimal gulaal and that too, to use only that of good quality.

“We have been asking residents not to use colours or waste water on Holi. We have been requesting people to use only herbal gulaal. We need to conserve water and people have shown a positive attitude to the idea,” AN Dhawan, secretary general, FONRWA, said.

The Confederation of NCR residents’ welfare association has also been requesting residents to avoid use of colours and to conserve water.

“In every meeting held to discuss Holi, we have been asking our members and residents to use only herbal colours and that too, minimally. Over the last few years, people have understood the value of water and the ill-effects of bad colours. People have reduced opting for concentrated colours,” PS Jain, president, CONRWA, said.