Ask for a Countrywide Ban on Lethal Manja

The manja used in kite-flying competitions is often gummed and coated with powdered and finely crushed glass, metal or other materials to make it sharp. Sharp manja is deadly for thousands of pigeons, crows, owls, endangered vultures and other birds who are wounded or killed when they become entangled in the strings.

In January 2013 alone, animal rights activists in Mumbai rescued and treated more than 300 injured birds, including pigeons, crows and owls, during the Makar Sankranti festival. A bird rescuer in Ahmedabad estimates that 2,000 birds are injured in the city every year during Uttarayan and that approximately 500 of them die from their injuries.

Sharp manja is hazardous not only for birds but also for humans – including passers-by travelling on open vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles or scooters – and is responsible for numerous injuries and deaths of children and adults every year. Here are only a few of many examples:

- In August 2015, a youth in Delhi died after his throat was slit by sharp manja.

- In January 2015, a 5-year-old boy in Vadodara died after his throat was slit by sharp manja while he was on his way to school with his father.
- On 7 December 2014, a 2-year-old boy in Jaipur received 22 stitches after sharp manja cut his face and neck so badly that doctors had to struggle to save his life.
- On 15 January 2014, a 5-year-old girl lost her life after being injured by manja in Jaipur.
- In January 2014, eight people died and almost 1,500 were injured in Ahmedabad alone because of manja.

- A youth in Varanasi was killed when his throat was slit by manja in December 2013.

Sharp manja also wreaks havoc on power lines. According to a Delhi power company, a single incident involving a kite near an electrical establishment can affect up to 10,000 customers. There are scores of such incidents in Delhi each year, and in 2014, there were approximately 20 large outages related to kite-flying in power company BSES' area alone.

Recently, a notification was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change urging the chief secretaries of all states and union territories of India to initiate appropriate action with regard to the use of manja, and the Animal Welfare Board of India has urged all states and union territories to ban manja outright via this circular.

You Can Help

Please help protect birds and people by asking all states and union territories to ban the production, sale and use of ALL forms of manja.

Subject

Dear Official,

I am writing today to urge you to issue an outright ban on the production, sale and use of ALL forms of sharp manja. Recently, a notification was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change urging the chief secretaries of all states and union territories of India to initiate appropriate action with regard to the use of manja, and the Animal Welfare Board of India has urged all states and union territories to ban manja outright.

As you know, manja used for flying kites is often gummed and coated with powdered and finely crushed glass, metal or other sharp materials. This manja is deadly for thousands of pigeons, crows, owls, endangered vultures and other birds who are wounded or killed when they become entangled in the strings. Dangerous manja has also injured and killed many people, including children. It also damages transmission lines and causes power failures.

Many states and district administrations – including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bareilly, Meerut, Varanasi, Chennai, Amritsar, Ludhiana, South West Delhi and the Gandhi Nagar subdivision of East Delhi – have now taken steps to ban or restrict the sale and use of manja.

Won't you please ban the production, sale and use of this deadly string?

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