Haridwar: Despite ban, the sale and use of deadly Chinese 'Manja' is still prevelant in parts of India, leading to tragic outcomes. Ashok Kumar, a 35-year-old hydra operator working on the Namami Gange Project in Haridwar, is the latest victim of these banned Chinese manja (glass-coated or metallic powder-coated synthetic strings used for flying kites).
As per sources, Ashok Kumar, a resident of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, was working near Raja Garden when his throat was slit by the razor-sharp string of a kite, leaving him bleeding profusely. Informed by locals, Kanakhla police rushed to the spot and shifted Kumar to the hospital. Doctors, however, declared him brought dead. Kumar's body was sent for autopsy and later handed over to his family, informed the police station in-charge.
Drive Against Use Of Chinese Manja
Speaking about the incident, Haridwar city SP Pankaj Gairola acknowledged the fact that in spite of frequent enforcement drives, sale and use of illegal Chinese manja has been continuing. "We have launched multiple raids, conducted multiple campaigns on the hazardous nature of Chinese manja. We will again start awareness campaigns to completely eradicate this menace," the SP assured.
SP Gairola further appealed to the people to refrain from purchasing Chinese manja and report instances of its sale to the police immediately.
A few years back, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had reportedly imposed a nationwide ban on the procurement, sale, use of glass powder-coated manja and other dangerous kite strings, keeping in view the threat these strings pose to humans, birds, animals as well as the environment.
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