UMESH ZHARMEKAR
PANAJI
Colours play an important role in the Holi festival but as most people are allergic to these chemically manufactured colours, a company from Mapusa has innovated natural, eco-friendly colours or gulal. Inovativa Waste Aid and Management Company has brought to the market natural gulal ‘Yimbi’ which is skin friendly.
Made from the corn flour, ‘Yimbi’ gets its colours from the flowers that go waste. The flowers that are used and thrown out are dried and mixed with the corn flour to make red, yellow, orange, green and pink coloured gulal.
The waste management company, that is working towards creating awareness in dealing with waste in a biodegradable way and utilising it for a good purpose, has manufactured these colours. The company is training people to dispose their garbage at home and has manufactured various simple and user-friendly machines for the purpose. The eco-friendly company is active in Mapusa for the past one year and has taken the initiative to manufacture natural gulal to replace the chemically dyed colours available in the market.
Chemicals are harmful to the skin, eyes, nose and ears. Not only humans but even animal health is affected due to these colours. To avoid the harmful effects of chemically prepared colours, the company has experimented with corn flour and dried flowers to make natural colours and this is a welcome step. The gulal, perfumed with various essential oils, has created a demand in the market and people are opting for it. ‘Yimbi’ packets are available in two sizes “ 100 gram sachets and five kilo bags which are priced at Rs 55 and Rs 2,750 respectively. Currently the prices seem to be on the higher end, however, the company is trying to make it available at reasonable price on public demand.
