In response to the tragic incident where a 37-year-old police constable lost his life due to the use of banned nylon manja, the Mumbai Police has escalated efforts to curb the illegal sale and usage of this hazardous kite string, also known as Chinese manja. Over the past two days, 19 cases have been registered, leading to the arrest of five individuals, with more sought for their alleged involvement in the illicit trade.
Concerned by the significant rise in the use of banned manja, police officials have deployed personnel on the streets to identify and take action against those selling and using these dangerous strings. With the approaching Sankranti festival, where kite flying is a popular tradition, the police aim to ensure a crackdown on the environmentally harmful nylon and Chinese manja. While citizens engage in kite flying, many are disregarding the ban and continue to use and sell manja that poses threats to birds, animals, and human safety. The banned manja is known to cause injuries and fatalities, as well as environmental damage, such as clogging drainage lines and adversely affecting natural water courses like rivers and streams. An officer emphasized, “Flying kites with nylon manja or Chinese manja injures birds, animals as well as human beings. It can be fatal as well. It is also responsible for clogging drainage lines while natural water courses like rivers, streams, soil are adversely affected due to which the government had banned the sale and usage of such kinds of manja under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.”
Despite the ban, incidents like the recent death of Constable Sameer Jadhav highlight the continued use of these dangerous strings. Jadhav lost his life when an unidentified person flying a kite with banned Chinese manja accidentally slit his throat while he was riding on the western express highway. Joint Commissioner of Police Satya Narayan (law and order) assured, “We have conducted raids, arrested a few people responsible, and have also seized manja in good quantities.