Party planners run a tight ship, ditch rain dance ideas for Holi festivities

PUNE: The drought situation in the state has stirred most venues in the city into opting for water-free Holi celebrations this year. Fearing restrictions on water usage during the festivities, party venues have decided to get creative.


Although neither the district collector nor the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have issued directions on banning the use of water, most party organizers have chosen to use only dry colours.

Pune district collector told TOI on Saturday that the authorities cannot ban the use of water during Holi but they can appeal to citizens to consciously save water. District collector Naval Kishore Ram said, “We have appealed to people to not waste water. But no orders on banning the use of water during Holi have been issued. The government has declared drought in seven talukas of Pune, including Baramati and Indapur. Special appeals will be issued for those talukas and people will be told to use water judiciously.”

The head of the PMC’s water department, V G Kulkarni, said the decision on water usage during Holi would be taken on Tuesday.

Imran Mandal, the director of Prodigy Events and Entertainment, said, “We are not using water at all. We wanted to take the safer route. We figured that it did not rain much last monsoon and so it was only appropriate to not use water during our Holi event.”

The few venues that do plan to use water are unsure if they would be allowed to do so. Director of Entice Entertainment Kartik More said, “Most venues won’t use water. However, it seems like people want water during the celebrations because that is the first enquiry we get from clients — whether or not water will be used.”