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How plastic kite strings clip Delhi birds’ wings
As expected, this year too on Independence Day, bird injuries multiplied as the kite flying season reached a peak. People generally use cotton strings coated with crushed glass. Now usage of plastic strings has increased as they do not break easily. ‘Manjha’ - a type of plastic string - gives fliers an advantage over their competitors , but it may cut short a bird’s life. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
Updated on: Aug 15, 2016 7:12 PM IST
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As expected, this year too on Independence Day, bird injuries multiplied as the kite flying season reached a peak. People generally use cotton strings coated with crushed glass. Now usage of plastic strings has increased as they do not break easily. ‘Manjha’ - a type of plastic string - gives fliers an advantage over their competitors , but it may cut short a bird’s life. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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A conscious buyer chooses white uncoated cotton string, which are less harmful for birds. However, not all who fly kites, are aware of the kind of string they use and its possible consequences. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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Often birds get grievously injured if they get entangled in a kite string. Only few are lucky enough to get treatment at bird hospitals like Shree Vijayanand Suri Jain Charitable Birds Hospital. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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This time around, many bird lovers rushed to hospitals with hundreds of injured birds entangled in kite strings. Activists have demanded a ban on ‘manjha’ to save the lives of innocent birds. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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Kabootarbazi (pigeon race) is still popular in old quarters of Delhi, but kite strings don’t distinguish domesticated birds from the stray, weaving a ‘deadly net’ on their paths. A boy arrives at a hospital with two such injured pets. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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An injured pigeon is being attended to by veterinary doctors even as many end up losing their wings after deep cuts or fractures. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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“Birds that have lost their limbs may not able to fly again. The hospital then takes care of them for rest of the life,” according to Rajeev Jain, president of Shree Vijayanand Suri Jain Charitable Birds Hospital. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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Veterinary doctors attend to a pigeon injured by a kite string. A bird may take more than a month to recover even from a minor injury. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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Besides physical injuries, birds are even treated for psychological trauma. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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Injured birds are housed in individual cages, during their long recovery period, with scheduled checks by a veterinary doctor. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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Post recovery, the birds are set free to return to the blue skies, where they belong. However, many return, making the hospital their new-found home. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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Plastic strings have now become popular and has found its way to kite seller’s shops. Not only for the birds, but they pose a threat to humans as well. A biker was found dead with his throat slit by a kite string on the Thakurdwara Flyover in old Ghaziabad on July 9, 2016. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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The Delhi government has sought a ban on ‘Chinese’ kite strings (also plastic) and has only allowed use of strings made from cotton or other natural fibre. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)
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