Holi 2016: TV actors urge you to save water and just use colours instead

Holi is a day away and people are stocking up on colours and pichkaris for the big day. But in the light of severe paucity of water in the city and the drought condition in the state, is it advisable to splash the precious commodity? We spoke to a few TV actors about their take on it and here’s what they have to say...

Tinaa Dattaa

Holi with water is out of the question. It’s usually fun to play Holi with water, but this year, the situation is bad. I will play only with gulal and eat lots of delicacies. Dry Holi is my mantra this year. I have heard BMC has banned the usage and supply of water tankers during the festival, which is a good move.

Karan Kundra

It’s not the question of Maharashtra suffering a drought. Even if we were not, water should not be wasted. During Holi, the colours get mixed with water, runs into the drainage system and finally, into the ocean. Apart from water wastage, a lot of plants, animals and ocean life dies. As it is, we are polluting our environment in the worst possible way, why add to it? I understand Holi is a festival of colours — so why not use eco-friendly colours that don’t harm others. The dogs, cats and birds with whom we share our city go through a lot of difficulty, but don’t have a voice. So, all I would say is, play Holi responsibly and have fun.

Chetan Hansraj

In the light of the drought situation, I would urge people to use minimal water, that too just to wash off the colours. On one hand, farmers are committing suicide due to drought and on the other, we are playing with water. Some kind of responsibility needs to be there. In fact, I am organising a Holi party wherein for every person who walks in, we will donate three buckets of water to a drought-affected place. We will be playing with dry colours and utilise minimal water to wash off the colour if it goes into the eye. There will be no rain dance. In the past, I have attended Holi parties which had rain showers, but now the conditions have become so bad, that some action needs to be taken and people need to be made aware.

Mouni Roy

As a rule I don’t play Holi since childhood. I just take a shower in the morning, offer pooja, eat a lot of delicacies and lock myself in a room with good books. But for those who will play Holi, I would urge them to use eco-friendly colours and have a dry Holi. We waste too much water during this festival every single year and now it is all the more important that it should be avoided.

Karan Tacker

Keeping the drought in mind, it would be great if we could unite in the conservation of water. It’s a grave situation and I would suggest let’s play a dry Holi — even that is equally fun. Anyway, I haven’t been playing a wet Holi for years now as I feel too much water is wasted.

Disha Padia

I do not like to play wet Holi, especially because the colours available are not pure and cause lot of problems. This year more so because water has become scarce. In any case we should preserve and value water and nature throughout the year, why only during Holi? I understand it’s a religious festival. In the past I have played wet Holi and seriously, how much water is actually used in a common man’s Holi? All figures that get published are guess work. Nobody orders water tankers. And if that is the case then ban water parks, pools, rain dances etc. We must conserve water everyday of our life.

Dilip Joshi

I have never played wet Holi. It’s always been with flowers or organic gulal. Now, when there is acute water shortage we should try and be completely miserly in using it for anything, except essentials. Every day should be treated as ‘save water day’. On Holi it’s doubly important to avoid wastage of this precious commodity. I have also realised that more water is used for washing off the dry or wet colours from our face and body. So, I would advice people to use one bucket to bathe and thereby save water.