Kite flying and birds

Kite flying is a joyful experience and every Indian must have relished the joy of flying colourful and beautifully-patterned kites at one point of their childhood or another. But, the same joy of kite flying takes a fearfully awful turn when it leads to harm of people as well as birds. This nasty turn comes from the practise of rubbing kite strings with powdered glass, called manja, so as to defeat fellow kite-flyers in kite-flying competitions. Last day was one of the famous Hindu festivals, Makar Sankranti, particularly popular for its kite flying ritual when hundreds and thousands of kites of different colours, patterns and shapes can be seen in the sky of big cities such as Ahmedabad, Jaipur etc. While, a few states have tried to impose ban on flying manja kites on such occasions that cause death and injury of birds in large scale, people hardly seems to have practised it. This year, the Govt. of Rajasthan released an official poster guiding people not to fly kites at dawn and dusk, the times when birds are most active in the sky. Among other guidelines, the poster also clearly states that flying kites with powdered glass is banned. How much of it is being followed by common people is not yet found. Certain organisations such as Save the Birds Project organises educational programmes for schools, distributes leaflets and have set up helpline numbers to inform them of injured birds. Among other initiatives, the Nature Forever Society has created a petition to ‘Impose nation-wide ban on the sale and use of Chines manja (nylon kite thread), a threat to humans, birds & environment’. If the government approves the petition and if nation accepts to fly kites in bird-friendly manner, then a number of lives can be saved and people can still enjoy watching colourful kites soaring in the sky.