Festival of colours was never so natural before

Holi, the festival of colours, was never so natural before. It is a dreadful experience to get rid of the synthetic dark colours after the enthusiasm fizzles away. The Social Forestry department has come up with a solution and is manufacturing natural colours.

The department has taken up a project at Shionibandh nursery in Bhandara district to manufacture, package and sell the colours in collaboration with a Nagpur-based NGO and this project is the first in the state.

ND Chaudhari, deputy director of the department informed that their motive is to bring back the era of natural colours when the ‘gulal’ or ‘abir’ or herbal extracts were used for the festival of colours and spreading awareness about the ill effects of the synthetic colours.

“We are looking forward to launch the product at malls of Pune and Nagpur. The finest quality colours will be packaged to attract buyers from all quarters of the society,” said Chaudhari.

Social Forestry department has formed 41 self help groups of tribals who manufacture the colours. The department plays a catalyst and help in the plantation, demonstration and training.

Nature Conservation Society, an NGO, has joined hands with the department for marketing the product. These natural colours are extracted from skin-friendly sources such as Palas petals
(magenta), Bixa seed (red), turmeric (yellow), Indigo Fera flower extracts (blue), Red Onion (pink), Charcoal (black), sandalwood, henna, besides several others.