BHOPAL: The gruesome death of an Ujjain girl whose throat was slit by Chinese manjha has brought into focus, once again, the use of glass-coated nylon or synthetic manjha (thread) for kite-flying.
While states like Gujarat and Delhi have enacted a separate statute/law banning the production, storage, sale or use of Chinese manjha, in Madhya Pradesh, some district collectors had notified a ban on use of Chinese manjha ahead of Makar Sankranti, giving an indication that there is no blanket ban on sale and use of Chinese manjha in the state.
According to Khalid, a member of Bhopal Birds’ Conservation Society, district collectors of Indore, Ratlam, Mandsaur and Ujjain had notified a temporary ban ahead of Makar Sankranti on sale/use of Chinese manjha.
“Since the incidents of birds getting killed or injured by Chinese manjha are not many in Bhopal. We didn’t pursue the matter or took up the issue for public awareness. But, as far as I know there is no law in MP imposing a state-wide ban on use of Chinese manjha. Some district collectors had notified a ban ahead of Makar Sankranti, when kite flying is done as a ritual by the people. Otherwise, kite flying is not so much in vogue in MP as some other states like Gujarat.
District collectors of Indore, Ratlam, Mandsaur and Ujjain, where the tragic incident took place, had notified the ban separately ahead of Makar Sankranti", said Khalid.
The ban was imposed by Mandsaur collector through a notification on December 21, 2021, under section 144 of the CrPC and any violation of the ban was punishable under section 188 of the IPC (disobedience of any order duly promulgated by a public servant), much in the same way as Covid restrictions are imposed by district collectors in the state and persons violating them are penalised.
In fact, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned the production, storage, sale and use of Chinese manjha or glass-coated synthetic or nylon manjha in 2016 following incidents of birds and some people getting killed or injured by them. In 2017, it asked the state governments to enact the law to implement the ban.
Additional collector, Bhopal, Dileep Yadav, when asked whether there is a ban on sale/use of Chinese manjha in the state and of course Bhopal, and if yes, why district collector of some other districts had to ban it ahead of Makar Sankranti through a separate notification said, "The NGT had banned the sale/use of glass-coated manjha and we follow the NGT order. We had not notified a ban at the district level."
District collector, Bhopal, Avinash Lavania, said "There is a ban on sale/use of Chinese manjha under section 5 of the Environment Protection Act. We take action in the matter under this law.
Collectors of some other districts you are referring to may have separately banned it because kite flying on Makar Sankranti is more in practice there. We had not done it and now Makar Sankranti is over, so there is no need to do it in any case."
Ban or no ban, vendors and shopkeepers who take to selling kites ahead of Makar Sankranti keep the glass-coated nylon or synthetic manjha (not necessarily made in China) for sale and hardly ever, there has been a raid or action against them.
Besides, advertisements can be seen on the Internet by online trading companies offering to provide Chinese Manjha at your home.
A police official, when asked whether sale of Chinese manjha is banned in MP, said "Yes" but when asked whether there has been any action or raid on kite sellers for sale of glass-coated synthetic manjha, he said, “I don't think there has been any major action in this regard.”
