Of all dyes produced across the world, 11 per cent goes out as effluents. 2 per cent from manufacturing and as much as 9 per cent from colouring. Each year, India produces 64,000 tonnes of dyes, 7,040 tonnes of which are directly discharged into the environment. Enough to dye the river Sabarmati! While colours brighten our world, they are also ubiquitous and pervasive. We're not talking nature here, but products that are created by industry. Like food colours, textile dyes, printing inks, pigments, acids, paints, even colours used in plastic. What goes into them? How are they manufactured? What is the monitoring mechanism? What are the procedures governing effluents? Can using them affect our health? What about the other end of the spectrum? What is the footprint we leave by using so many coloured products? Does industrial discharge affect the drinking water sources of villages and towns far away? What are the regulations and how can they be enforced? Issues like this also need to be addressed, says kushal pal singh yadav