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Natural Dyes in Uttarakhand

The use of chemical dyes is highly polluting and damaging to health. The workers using

these dyes are exposed to a number of serious health risks, including damage to kidneys,

the liver and urinary bladder. Similarly, the use of chemical dyes is associated with

damage to the environment, caused by very highconcentration of unused dye, salts,

heavy metals and other toxic substances in the effluent. Depending on the type of dye and

the absorption capacity of the fibres, more than 20% of the dye may remain unused and is

released along with the effluent. Also, almost all chemical dyes take a long time to break

up, making their impact on the environment a long term problem. In addition to making

water unusable for most purposes, the presence of dyes can lead to the overpopulating of

water bodies with algae (into which contaminated effluent has been discharged),

preventing adequate levels of sunlight from entering the water. This results in a depletion

of flora in the water and inhibits the growth of bacteria necessary for the decomposition

of waste material. Furthermore, the discharge of large amounts of effluent with a high

concentration of salt can turn freshwater lakes permanently saline and unfit to support

life.

The last fifty years have seen a large increase in the use of chemical dyes in India,

replacing traditionally used natural dyes. This has led to a serious deterioration in the

environment around large textile centres and handloom clusters and affected the health of

people living in and around these areas. A good example is the hosiery industry in

Tirupur, which at one time had more than 800 small - scale dyeing factories, using

chemical dyes. They discharged very large amounts of unused dyes, salt and heavy

metals into the ground water. The result is that the ground water is now not even fit for

dyeing; at one time more than three thousand trucks were being employed to bring fresh

water from neighbouring villages. The situation became so bad that the Tamil Nadu High

Court had to order the closure of dyeing factories, to prevent further deterioration to the

environment, especially the water bodies.

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The situation in other handloom clusters is equally bad. For example, tests conducted

near Panipat, an important handloom centre, found that the level of mercury in the ground

water was more than 250 times the permissible limit for drinking water. Again, Pali, a

dyeing centre with almost 1000 dyeing factories in Rajasthan has completely polluted the

river Bandi. The town is considered to be among the most polluted in the country.

Natural dyes provide an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical dyes. Compared

to chemical dyes, their impact on health and the environment is small. The colours

produced by natural dyes are also more soft and soothing. They are obtained from plants

and insect shells. The most commonly used natural dyes are indigo (neel), pomegranate

(anar), flame of the forest (tesu), madder (majith), walnut (akhrot), myrobalan (harada)

and lac (lakh).

However, in spite of these advantages, the use of natural dyes, even in the handloom

sector, is very small. s they have been almost completely replaced by chemical dyes, the

knowledge and art of using natural dyes is nearly lost. lthough a section of the urban

middle class is beginning to show interest in products made with natural fibres and

coloured with natural dyes, the number of producers is still very small. This trend needs

to be reversed.

The situation is beginning to improve. number of !ttarakhand based handloom

producers have recently taken initiatives to produce a variety of wool, silk and pashmina

products using a variety of natural dyes to obtain a wide range of colours and designs.

Their products have found a large market among urban buyers and contributed to the

revival of interest in natural dyes. These producers include vni ("ithoragarh),

Himalayan #eavers ($ussoorie and %a&pur in 'ehradun) and "anchachuli (lmora).vani is based in erinag in "ithoragarh district where it produces a wide range of

products using pashmina, wool and silk coloured with natural dyes. n addition to

promoting the use of local material and skills, vani also works on alternative sources of

energy. t products are available on*line and in fairs and exhibitions. Himalayan #eavers

is based in $asrana village on the $ussoorie*'hanaulti %oad where they produce

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shawls, stoles and scarves using a wide range of natural dyes. Their main ob&ective is to

populari+e natural dye products and provide local people with interesting work

opportunities and fair wages. Their products are available in %a&pur and $ussoorie.

"anchchuli is the largest womens independent cooperative in !ttarakhand. t is based in

insar near lmora where pashmina and wool products are made using both natural and

chemical dyes. They have shops in $ussoorie and -ainital.

The success of these initiatives has contributed to the popularity of natural dyesand has

also made !ttarakhand known as an important source of wool and silk products coloured

with these dyes. et us hope that more handloom producers in the State will take to

natural dyeing, and help to create a trend in favour of environmentally friendly products.