Thane: With the festival of colours less than a week away, the social forest department of the state government has coined a slogan, “Khelo Holi, eco-friendly’’ (play Holi, eco-friendly) and is working towards it, says deputy director Kishore Thackeray.
Addressing a conference for training a select group of teachers from the district, he said that from 2008, his department was encouraging children to go in for an ecofriendly Holi.
A training kit for achieving this goal was made available to the teaching staff in various schools of the state and district, he said. Thackeray added that the only aim was to avoid the ill effects of the festival of colours.
His social forestry team, along with NGOS, was making an attempt to introduce the concept of community Holi among people and educate them about the use of natural colours in the festival.
He said that the Holi fire comprises all kinds of material. Plastics, tyres and tubes should be avoided as they lead to pollution. A community Holi helps in reducing the use of wood.
Thousands of eco-clubs have been set up in the schools, in which awareness camps are being held and in each school, at least a hundred students are members of a club. A sum of
Rs 2,500 was earmarked for each club to carry out programmes, he said.
Not only during Holi, but also during other festivals including Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali, these clubs play a vital role in spreading awareness among people, Thackeray said. AGENCIES
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