Hyderabad, March 18: If the talk every year of having a safe Holi using organic colours has not materialised till now, this year is going to be different.
To help denizens celebrate a colourful yet safe Holi, the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) has come up with 12 shades of eco-friendly gulal. The colours can be safely used on human skin without any side-effects.
The eco-Holi kit was released by mayor Banda Karthika Reddy in an awareness campaign-cum-rally on Necklace road on Thursday. “People should use only natural and home-made colours during Holi,’’ Karthika Reddy said.
Out of the 12 shades developed, six colours- yellow, pink, maroon, orange, green and blue have been found to be most accepted by consumers and are being produced in large quantities by tribal groups of Chintapalli area at the natural dye unit. The colours will be marketed under the name, Darbar-e-Rang.
The eco-friendly colours have been developed under national agriculture innovation sub-project, Value Chain in Natural Dyes, under Dr A Sharada Devi, dean, home science. Explaining about the colours, Dr Devi said usage of synthetic colours in Holi usually leads to skin diseases and allergies. She said the initiative would help to generate livelihood for tribals. She also pointed out natural colours were not only cheaper but also safer than synthetic colours.
ANGRAU registrar Dr L Jalapathi Rao, research director Dr R Sudhakar Rao, Dr T Ellamanda Reddy, dean of agriculture were present.
–Agencies