Bird Lovers Plead Against Using Chinese Manja

To tend to birds getting sliced by the manja of air-borne kites during the Sankranthi season, volunteers from Sahayog Organisation and Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh will be on move on two-wheelers in and around Hyderabad to attend to injured birds till January 17.

The Sahayog Organisation, founded to work for animal rights and the welfare of animals, said that every January in Hyderabad, thousands of birds were killed thanks to kite-flying during Sankranthi.

The usually fatal injuries to birds were caused by Chinese manja and glass-coated manja, threads that cut through the flesh and bones of the birds.

Birds brought to the camp had deep cuts and injuries, and had even glass pieces embedded in their bodies. With kite-fliers rising, the number of injuries had risen over the years, with a growing number of birds as well as humans seriously injured by manja, the organization said.

"Therefore, we, volunteers from the Sahayog Organisation and the Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh, urge the citizens to follow certain dos and don'ts during the kite-flying festival. Do not fly kites using Chinese manja or glass-coated manja. The compassionate solution is not to fly kites at all, but please at least shift to simple threads without any glass or iron coatings. Always dispose of the leftover pieces of manja in a careful manner so that the birds are not entangled in the manja. Fly kites on open grounds. Never turn a blind eye to an injured bird - please report injured birds or birds found hanging from trees to our helpline no 9394005600. Please also take injured birds to the nearest veterinary doctor or pigeon treatment centre. Use uncoated string (instead of manja) to fly kites. Chinese manja is banned in the State, and so if you come across anybody who is selling Chinese manja, inform us on our helpline, so that we may initiate suitable action against them," the organization said.