Crackdown on nylon manja intensifies, police booksellers, stockists

Indian police have intensified their crackdown on the sale of illegal Chinese manja, or nylon kite strings, which have caused injuries and deaths. The manja, which is coated in crushed glass or metallic elements, is lethal for birds and has been banned by the Maharashtra government. Police have arrested four people for selling or stocking the banned string, following the death of a police officer whose throat was slit by a manja string. The Animal Welfare Board of India has praised the police efforts, but said that 10-15 birds are still injured every month.

MUMBAI: With instances of nylon manja strings injuring or killing humans on the rise, the police have intensified their crackdown on people selling, stocking, and buying illegal Chinese manja, also known as nylon manja, and have booked four more persons for the same.

HT Image

In Goregaon, the Bangur Nagar police arrested a 56-year-old woman from Bhagatsingh Nagar for stocking manja under the Environment Protection Act and section 188 (disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. Similarly, the Dindoshi police booked a 19-year-old on Tuesday for the same. Malvani police booked a 36-year-old, and the Sahar police booked a 70-year-old under the same charges.

The manja, which has glass and metal components, has long been opposed by environmentalists as it is lethal for birds.

On Sunday, police constable Sameer Jadhav, 37, died after his throat was slit by one such Chinese manja dangling from the Vakola flyover. The cop who was on his way back home from work sustained an injury as grave as that of a deep cut by a knife. The Kherwadi police had booked an unknown person for causing death by negligence under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code.

After his death, the police began taking strict actions against those selling and buying the Chinese manja. The Kherwadi police, under whose jurisdiction Jadhav’s death took place, first arrested two brothers who were found flying kites with nylon manjas as well as the shopkeeper who sold them to them. All three accused were booked under section 336 (rash or negligent act that endangers human life or the personal safety others) of the Indian Penal Code. The stash of manja from the shopkeeper’s godown was also seized by the police.

“This crackdown is neither incidental nor due to a particular instance,” Ajay Bansal, deputy commissioner of police, zone 11, said. “As kite flying increases in the run-up to Makar Sankranti from the last week of December, such operations against those selling the banned, lethal manjas are taken up every year.”

The ban on the manja was brought into effect by the Maharashtra government in March this year. All types of threads that are made up of nylon or other synthetic materials, which are usually coated with crushed glass or metallic elements, are banned and are prohibited for sale, production, storage, supply, and use of these threads.

“Despite the ban, the sale and use of these manjas are widespread. Every month, we get 10-15 birds who are hurt due to their wings or feet getting entangled in nylon manjas,” said Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) representative Mitesh Jain, appreciating the efforts taken by the police to discourage people from using Chinese manja. He added that during the annual camps around Makar Sankranti all around the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) each year, at least a thousand injured birds are treated.

Close shave

A Vasai-based reporter, Manish Mhatre, had a close shave on Wednesday afternoon when he found a nylon manja wrapped around his helmet. It was this helmet that saved his life while he was driving his two-wheeler in Nalasopara East.

“I felt some restriction in the middle of the road and couldn’t understand what was causing it as the thread was almost invisible,” said Mhatre. “I stopped my vehicle by the side of the road and started untangling the thread, which turned out to be a 15-metre nylon manja.

Later, after reaching his office, he realised that he sustained a small cut on his throat but was saved from a deeper cut because of the helmet.