Guwahati – Eco tourism Society of North East has called upon all citizens to celebrate the festival of colours with the theme ‘Save Water’.

The Society said that in the backdrop of water scarcity, it was important to spread the message of celebrating a dry Holi only with colours.

“Water balloons and pichkaris, brightly coloured powders (gulal) and paint, water guns and sprinklers – these are all perfect ways to usher in Holi, the exuberant festival of colours. But if one person uses a single bucket of water (the minimum) to play Holi, he uses a minimum of 15 litres in a single day. Assuming that five lakh out of the estimated population of any city play Holi with water, there is wastage of 75 lakh litres of water in the day,” said Gautam Dutta, president of the society.

Dutta said that to balance sustainability with tradition, the society will spread the message of Eco Friendly Holi among the masses, specially among the students, reported The Assam Tribune.

“No water in pichkaris, no hurling of water balloons, paints on each other. In short, a dry Holi is one with only colours and no water. Also we will demonstrate, post Holi celebration, how to take care of skins,” added Dutta.

The society will spread the message of eco friendly Holi by organising campaigns in schools and colleges of NE India. The first step that the members of the society will take is to make people aware about making the colours in their homes.

“Gram flour, turmeric, fuller’s earth, sandal wood powder, henna powder – these can be used to make myriad colours. Flowers like marigold and gulmohar, and vegetables like beetroot can be easily used to create fine colours. It’s a bonus for the skin, as they smell great and are gentle on skin,” informed Dutta.

The society has urged the citizens to wear dark coloured clothes while playing Holi as this makes cleaning easier with less water usage as well, to apply coconut oil on hair which acts as a protecting agent and prevents colours from penetrating deep inside hair or to wear a cap or bandana to protect hair.

The society has also appealed to the citizens to take care to prevent nails from being stained, to moisturize the skin with heavy creams or oil as the the thick layer formed will not let the colours seep deep and to protect the face with sunscreen and lips with petroleum jelly as well.

“Before heading for a bath, use a mix of gram flour, milk cream and a bit of lemon juice to fade the colours. You could also use wheat flour and oil on lemon wedges to remove colour,” advised Dutta.

The society has requested every citizen of the region to avoid throwing plastic bags and balloons filled with water over others as plastics will block the drains and litter the environment, and balloons will hurt others and waste precious water as well