7th kite string victim on Maa in a year can’t speak even after 12 days

KOLKATA: A 37-year-old businessman from Topsia Road, the seventh person to have been slashed by an alloy-coated kite string while riding a bike on Maa flyover in a year, was so severely injured that even after 12 days, he has not been able to speak or eat anything solid. Abizer Patel, who suffered critical injuries on his lips and lower jaw, had to spend two days at Chittaranjan Hospital and Royd Nursing Home.


Still confined to home and on a liquid diet, as advised by doctors, Patel on Friday decided to explore legal options, including becoming a party to the PIL against the use of alloy-coated kite strings being submitted to court. Coated with an alloy, the strings are banned but people continue to fly kites with it, posing danger for people especially bikers, and birds alike.

Patel, who can’t speak at present, texted TOI, saying he was returning home from the Budge Budge crematorium on December 9 and had just crossed the Maa flyover-AJC Bose Road flyover link around 4pm, when suddenly, he felt a sharp sensation on his lips and saw an alloy-coated thread cutting into his lower jaw. “I was traumatized,” he wrote. Within seconds, Patel realized he was bleeding heavily. “Not one passerby stopped to help. I spotted a cop some 50m ahead. I parked my bike on the flyover and walked down to him,” Patel wrote. The police took him to Chittaranjan Hospital in their vehicle and contacted his acquaintances. “When I was shifted to the nursing home, I was kept admitted for over 48 hours,” Patel texted.

The incident showed that in spite of the flyover being put under the surveillance of Karaya and Topsia police stations and a PIL being filed, people still flew kites with the illegal, dangerous alloy-coated string. The accident took place near Bridge No. 4 under Karaya police station, the spot from where maximum complaints had been reported of late. The southeast division, which had earlier launched special drives across Topsia and deployed uniformed men near the Topsia Hindu Burial Ground and detained several youths flying kites, said the December 9 spot was new.

“This is a new spot and very close to the Park Circus Seven-Point Crossing. We will need to expand our programme to spread awareness about the dangers of using alloy-coated kite strings in these areas. But we are yet to receive an official complaint on the December 9 incident,” said an officer.

About not lodging any complaint so far, Patel said, “I have been confined to my room and not known how to react. Now, going by the advise of my well-wishers, I will approach legal forums.” His friend, Sashi Joshi, pointed out that such accidents had become common on top of the flyover. “Bikers must also be told to wear helmets that cover their face and take precautions to protect their neck. A Sector-V employee I know was also injured in a similar way on the same stretch two days after Patel met with the accident,” he claimed.

The police said they had been holding their drive against illegal alloy-coated strings for the past four months. “After getting reports of these illegal strings being spotted on Maa flyover, we began searches in nearby areas to locate people selling them. But so far, we have not been able to trace those who posses them. We are trying to find out if these are entering the Karaya-Park Circus belt from outside our police station areas,” said an officer.