The festival of colours is right round the corner. And here is an opportunity to celebrate Holi by replacing the traditional gulal with its more eco-friendly and natural counterpart.

 People are preparing to turn red, blue and yellow with the festival of colours. City markets are witnessing enthusiastic crowd.

 The Bistupur and Sakchi market are most sought after place to buy the colours. A number of people frequent these markets for the festival of the year and a dozen odd shops sell different variants of colours. It is also a choicest place for the children to buy toys that can store in some color water.

“Holi has always been a nightmare for me because of the dangers of synthetic colours. Eco-friendly colours are the best way to celebrate Holi. Thanks to the annual awareness drives, gradually, people are realising the importance of eco-friendly colours,” said Amala Akkineni.

The rising awareness about the ill effects of the synthetic colours have motivated people to opt for the natural colours or to say eco friendly colours to play and enjoy the festival of colours, Holi.

“The colours are made out of turmeric, rice flour and recycled flowers, and contain no artificial colours. Fillers or preservatives that are used have been lab tested for zero heavy metal content,” said Radheshyam Goyal, a leading colour trader of Jugsalai.

 Ranging from Rs 10 a packet to Rs 260 per kilogram, these natural colours may be a little heavy on the pocket as compared to the regular colours, but the difference is a small price to pay for a safe Holi.

 “Regular colours can cost anything between Rs 100-200 per kilogram. However, as natural colours have a higher density, the buyer gets a higher amount for less,” Goyal added.

For Mukesh Agarwal, a shopkeeper at Sakchi Market, personalized gift baskets for Holi are a sure-shot way to up business at this time.

"The designer masks have found many takers. Even though the demand for pakka colours has seen a dip, we have a few packets kept with us. Kuch log aise hote hain jo kehte hain ki do din tak toh lagna chahiye ki Holi kheli hai.

That's why they prefer pakka colours to organic Holi colours.

But at the end of the day, it's all a traders of the city who experimented with herbal holi colours last year doubled the orders this year but almost the entire stock has been sold out a week before the festival.

“Though, the sales of rose waters are also on its pick and the products are very reasonably priced at Rs 20-25 for a herbal colour pouch and Rs 75-80 for a rose water bottle,” said Manoj, a trader.