Notification on kite thread after I-Day

NEW DELHI: The city government on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it will not be able to come out with an order before Independence Day prohibiting use of

NEW DELHI: The city government on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it will not be able to come out with an order before Independence Day prohibiting use of ‘Chinese manja’ — a nylon thread coated with powdered glass — for flying kites.

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A bench of chief justice G Rohini and justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal asked the Delhi government to come up with suggestions to avert accidents due to use of Chinese manja in the days running up to Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan.

The court asked the Delhi government’s senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra to give the suggestions on August 10, the next date of hearing, so that it can pass some directions to prevent accidents.

“Maybe from next year the rule would be in place,” the bench said.

Mehra told the court that the Delhi government has issued a draft notification for banning Chinese manja and only allowing kite-flying with a cotton thread or natural fibre, “free from metallic or glass components”.

“To implement it (the notification) in next four days is next to impossible. We need time. May be keeping in view the Independence Day we can issue advertisements and put hoardings to make the public aware about disadvantage of Chinese manjas,” he said.