Vidhyadhar Walawalkar of Thane based NGO Enviro-Vigil said this year he would not make a fire, a major part of the Holi celebrations. “It’s better to skip a part of the celebrations rather than burn wood when we are already seeing a rapid decline in green cover,” he says. “During Holi, one needs different types of wood to make a bonfire. There are not enough trees left to cut them and use for celebrations.” On the second day of Holi, when colours are used, Walawalkar says he will use only organic colours.

Many housing societies in Thane have decided to have small fires and use organic colours this time. The Happy Valley Society at Manpada has decided to use hay and cow dung cakes for the Holi bonfire. “We will be using very little wood. On the second day, we will only use gulal. Use of water-based and synthetic colours will not be allowed in the society,” says Dilip Kaloke, secretary of a society in a complex that has around 900 flats. The society has sent letters to the residents asking them to follow the guidelines and make this year’s celebrations environment-friendly.

“We have been collecting dead wood and leaves since past few months so that we can use them for burning during Holi. But the bonfire would be of small in size,” says Vandana Vadke, a resident of Rutu Enclave, a housing complex of 600 apartments, off Ghodbunder Road in Thane. Some societies in the complex have decided to use organic colours to celebrate Holi.

But the concept of eco-friendly Holi is still not appealing enough for people, says R Ambekar (76), a resident of Vikas Complex in Thane. “Though the concept of using less wood and minimising the need for cutting trees has been accepted, people still hesitate to use organic colours,” he says. Ambekar says he had prepared organic colours in his complex last year, but found that people still used synthetic colours.