The auspicious festival of Holi which we have celebrated, since centuries back is not only celebrated in India only but also in many foreign countries as well, sharing the same enthusiasm and zeal as we do. Little did we know that we would get a severe blow of the present pandemic which would leave us paralyzed from the thought of celebrating Holi with the people still being infected by COVID-19 and some suffering and dying as a result.
The same goes for Kumbh Mela which we first began in 1870 and never stopped its celebration (once in every 12 years) until today, for we know how much ethical, mythological and historical essence it has that it attracts people from every nook and corner of India and one can easily assume the crowd it makes with thousands and lakhs of people at one place. Millions of people arrive in Allahabad to participate in the Kumbh Mela festival. The pilgrims, who come from everywhere India, bathe within the river, most drink a couple of drops of the Ganges water and lots of fill bottles to require home with them.
But the newest study by the Uttar Pradesh government has confirmed the worst fears of campaigners who have long raised questions on pollutants within the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. The study found that the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels – which are used as a measure of the extent of organic pollution within the water – had increased to 7.4mg per liter at the bathing place, referred to as Sangam. The BOD level at Sangam each day before was 4.4mg per liter. After the date, the BOD levels gradually decreased to 4.8mg per liter and so on.
Experts say that BOD shouldn’t exceed 2mg per liter, Pollution control panel officer Mohd Sikandar said that “Such a high level of BOD within the water shows that organic pollution has increased within the river thanks to mass bathing”, to dilute the impact of pollution, authorities have also transferred upstream water. But experts say the Ganges water in Allahabad remains unfit for drinking and bathing. Many Hindus believe that water from the Ganges has the power to wash and purify itself. But campaigners say the river is suffering from future industrial and concrete pollution from the cities and towns located on its banks, this might be the rationale that even a traditional day of formal bathing can increase the water’s BOD level.
Speaking of today, both of these two historical events have been called off due to the crisis of COVID-19 we are going through. Even though vaccines are being given, in a population of more than a billion, only a few millions are vaccinated. “Survive today to celebrate tomorrow”, with this ideology in mind, the Mumbai government and some other states have made it mandatory not to celebrate Holi, keeping in view the rising cases of COVID-19, minimize any type of contact between people, and decrease the spread of the deadly virus, keeping people safe from being contaminated.
The annual holiday-festival of colors, Holi, is less than a week away, there is little question that Holi is one of the foremost popular festivals of India, but there are dangers related to the event too, like the blatant use of inexpensive, artificial colors that affects our skin, hair, etc.
Holi may be a festival that celebrates natural colors in the past, but now people use toxic, Unhealthy chemical colors that affect our skin, eyes, and teeth. We understand that Holi comes once a year, and everybody plans to play with them beforehand and check out to use stronger color so that it comes out after 2-3 days. It is essential to require appropriate safety steps to stop your skin or hair from getting damaged. The dry “gulal” and therefore the wet colors of today aren’t derived from natural sources. They contain chemicals which not only harm the skin but get collected in the scalp and contaminates the body.