No More Chinese Manjha This Year As NGT Orders Complete Ban On Nylon And Glass-Coated Kite Strings

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday imposed a complete ban on kite sting popularly known as manjha, made of nylon or any non-biodegradable synthetic material as it not only poses a threat to birds, and humans but also cause harm to the environment.

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NGT bench led by Justice Swatanter Kumar directed all states to ban the "manufacture, sale, storage, purchase and use," of such manjha made of nylon or any non-biodegradable synthetic material.

The bench made it clear that the order applies on nylon, Chinese and cotton manjha with glass coating as it cause harm to both birds as well as the humans.

"There shall be a total ban on the manjha or thread for kite-flying which is made of nylon or any other synthetic material and/or is coated with synthetic substance and is non-biodegradable," the green bench said in its order. It added that all states had the duty to inform the district magistrate to enforce the ban with immediate effect and execute the order of the tribunal.

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"All chief secretaries of states and Union territories are directed to enforce prohibition on manufacture and use of synthetic manjha/nylon thread for flying kites throughout the country," the bench added.

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The judgment came on a plea which had been filed by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) and others which had argued that such kinds of manjha posed a threat to the lives of humans, animals and even birds with a number of deaths reported each year.

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"Due to 'manjha' being coated with glass, metals and other sharp material, these strings act as good conductors of electricity, increasing the probability of detached manjha strings stuck in power lines electrocuting kite flyers and passers-by coming into contact with these strings," the petition submitted by Peta had said.

In the petition, Peta had said that children were engaged by the cottage industry for the manufacture of manjha which was causing respiratory problems as they were inhaling harmful substances hazardous to their health.

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Earlier in December, the green panel had imposed an interim nationwide ban on the use of glass-coated manjha, citing that it posed a threat to the environment. The bench had said the ban would apply to nylon, Chinese and cotton manjha coated with glass and had directed the Manja Association of India to submit a report to CPCB on its harmful effects.