Save birds, say no to killer manja

Surat: Over 3,000 birds were injured by manja in the past two years during Uttarayan festival in the city. There were more than two dozen incidents too wherein people’s throats were slit by the double-coated manja made lethal with glass-powder by kite enthusiasts.
In 2018, students from 12 schools took a pledge not to fly kites to ensure safety of birds.

Darshan Desai, a volunteer of Prayas, a non-government organization, said, “During the past two years, a large section of people understood the menace of the sharp-edged manja. We hope this year too, they would stay away from the killer manja.”

Kamesh Patel, a manja maker at Bhagal, said, “Our customers demand manja coated with glass powder to take on their kite-flying opponents. We advice them not to go for sharp manja as it not only kills birds, but could also be dangerous for people on the road. We are not preparing manja at our stall this year and selling ready-made charkhis only.”

Praveen Patangwala, a manja maker at Adajan, said, “We have to prepare manja as per our customers’ requirements. We try to convince them not to use double-coated thread, but they do not listen. We have to accede to their request.”

Prem Pillai, a private bank employee, was going on his motorcycle from Udhana three years ago when a manja slit his throat. Pillai, an avid kite flyer, has stopped flying kites since that day.

“My throat was slit with a sharp-edged thread at Udhana and I had 12 stitches. I don’t fly kites now and my friends have stopped flying kites too,” Pillai said.