Delhi Police and PETA India Seize Banned Manja Ahead of Independence Day

For Immediate Release:

13 August 2023

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Delhi – Following complaints from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India that dangerous and illegal manja was being sold at Delhi markets, the group worked with Delhi police to conduct a raid at the Jafrabad market in northeast Delhi. During the raid, several hundred kilograms of illegal manja, including 55 spools, were seized and complaints were filed against the offenders under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The 10 January 2017 Gazette notification of the Delhi government prohibits the production, storage, supply, importation, sale, and use of all forms of manja. The ban exists in order to prevent harm to humans, birds, and other animals as well as the environment. The notification permits flying kites only with a cotton thread free from any materials designed to increase its sharpness or strength.

The photos of the raid are available upon request.

“We commend the action taken by Delhi police to seize illegal manja. This will go a long way towards protecting the lives of humans as well as birds, including endangered vultures, who are lacerated by the sharp string,” says PETA India Advocacy Officer Farhat Ul Ain. “Most people would choose to use only plain cotton kite strings if they knew that doing so would spare fellow humans and other animals serious injuries and even death.”

Last year, PETA India worked with Delhi police to conduct a raid at Lal Kuan market, during which over 50 spools of illegal manja were also seized. In August 2021, after receiving complaints from PETA India, Delhi police seized a sizeable number of manja spools from the South Delhi district, and in 2020, it seized hundreds of spools of manja from various shops in Chand Mohalla. Similarly, in 2019, these raids were conducted in Sadar Bazar and Bara Hindu Rao in North Delhi and Madhu Vihar in East Delhi.

Manja, in all its forms, puts humans, birds, other animals, and the environment at risk. Razor-sharp strings, either made of nylon or cotton thread coated with abrasive materials like finely crushed glass or metal injure humans and cause many senseless deaths every year. Often passers-by, including children, travelling on open vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters fall prey to these deadly threads. Just a few weeks ago, a 7-year-old girl in Delhi died after being slashed by manja while seated on a bike with her parents. And earlier this year, an official of the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd sustained significant injuries after a kite string got tangled around her neck.

The harmful thread also has a disastrous impact on bird populations. Birds’ wings or feet are often slashed or even cut off by manja, and birds frequently escape with such wounds, meaning rescuers cannot help them. Various NGOs have reported that thousands of pigeons, crows, owls, endangered vultures, and other birds are wounded or killed every year as a result of becoming entangled in these strings during or right after kite-flying seasons.

Since August 2022, following PETA India’s appeal, the governments of Chandigarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Punjab have issued notifications prohibiting the notorious nylon “Chinese” manja as well as glass- and metal-coated “desi” kite strings and mandated plain cotton string for kite-flying. Each of these notifications emphasises the environment-polluting effects of the reinforced kite string, the danger it imposes on citizens and wildlife, and the power outages it’s responsible for.

PETA India is requesting that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issue a nationwide prohibition on the manufacture, sale, and use of all forms of manja – nylon and glass- and metal-coated – and that state governments implement the ban.

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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