Chinese manja menace looms large as birds face grave threat in Hyderabad | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: With at least two children and hundreds of birds believed to have been injured in the city, there seems to be no let-up in usage of Chinese manja. Animal rights activists fear that several spools of the banned manja will be hanging across the trees, posing a grave threat to the migratory birds which flock to the city for nesting.
“The number of birds being reported injured and dying is rising especially during this month. The number will go up after Sankranti as the usage of Chinese manja has also increased in the last two years,” Pradeep Nair of Animal Warriors Conservation Society told STOI.

Soudharm Bhandari, animal welfare officer associated with Greater Hyderabad Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said 20 to 25 birds that they rescue die every year due to Chinese manja while several of them suffer grievous injuries. “We have been doing rounds all over the city and looking for birds stuck in threads hanging from trees. We will be doing this till the end of the festival week. Our veterinary doctor said birds take weeks to recover from injuries as it affect their ability to fly,” Bhandari said.
There are also several unreported instances of Chinese manja injuring two-wheeler riders and children. For instance, an eight-year-old boy had a close shave after a Chinese manja tangled around his neck while he was walking past few kite flyers in Ameenpur. “I almost had my trachea cut by a Chinese manja last year but luckily, the cut was not deep and I stopped my two-wheeler to avoid increasing the tension of the Chinese manja. But, it required three stitches,” Krishna Raju, a resident of Dilshuknagar, told STOI.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned the Chinese manja in its 2016 judgment and ordered stringent punishment for violators which would attract a jail term of up to five years or a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh or both. Despite the ban, there hasn’t been much deterrence amongst retailers and kite flyers in the city.
“Because of the sale of Chinese manja, vendors like us who don’t flout the rules get affected as naturally, people will look to buy a brand which is durable and cheaper compared to the normal manja that we sell,” Krishna Kumar, a shopkeeper at Dhoolpet, said.