Delhi Police crack down on sale of Chinese manjha, 12 held
The action came after a woman rider was critically injured after the banned kite string cut her neck on Shastri Park last Tuesday
In its crackdown against sale and use of Chinese manjha, police have arrested at least a dozen people from north-east Delhi district over the last week, officers said on Monday. The action came after a woman rider was critically injured after the banned kite string cut her neck on Shastri Park last Tuesday.
Read here: Wires on Shastri Park flyover to check Chinese manjha cuts
Those held included four sellers and eight kite flyers, police said, adding that they have lodged 11 first information reports (FIRs) against them under section 188 (disobeying an order by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.
Chinese manjha is a synthetic kite string coated with a material that can cut the skin of animals and human beings.
Sale and use of Chinese manjha is banned in the country since 2017.
“The woman’s accident prompted us to go after Chinese manjha users and sellers. We detained a dozen people, registered 11 FIRs against them and recovered 17 pulleys with the banned strings. The action was taken in all areas of north-east Delhi where people have been flying kites these days,” said Joy Tirkey, deputy commissioner of police (north-east).
Tuesday’s accident was not the lone such incident on the flyover. Last year, a motorcycle-rider was killed in August on the stretch due to a Chinese manjha.
To prevent such accidents in the future, police have installed plastic wires on electricity poles along the Shastri Park flyover, and imposed Section 144 in the area. Police have also been carrying out awareness drives in this regard in the neighbourhoods, and the measures have, for the time being, reduced the sale and kite flying in the area, the DCP added.
“The flyover has jhuggis on both sides where a large number of residents fly kites. This, besides the accelerated speed of the vehicles on the downward stretch of the flyover, makes it prone to Chinese manjha accidents,” said the DCP.
In 2017, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the use of Chinese manjha and asked the state governments to enforce the directive.
To be sure, kite flying, by itself, is not illegal.
Read here: Lucknow docs give new lease of life to man hurt by manjha
However, police said that the pre-emptive action was needed against Chinese manjha sellers as there is little that can be done once a mishap has occurred. “Unless someone is seen flying a kite the string of which caused an accident, it is nearly impossible to find the responsible person,” said Tirkey.
Last year, a total of 36 FIRs were registered in the district and 36 people detained, said the DCP, adding that 724 pulleys were recovered in all — majorly in the months of July and August.