The National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a nationwide interim ban on the procurement, sale and use of glass powder coated manja and other dangerous kite strings. This is a right step in the right direction as we observe many accidents happen during the Sankranti time and some of them fatal as the glass powder coated strings strike people unaware while travelling by vehicles or as pedestrians through the busy streets. This is happening for decades and no one took serious action on kite flying menace with such banned manjas. The glass powder coated kite string not only poses a threat to birds, animals and humans but also causes harm to the environment.
During Makar Sankranti, people around India fly kites and celebrate the harvest festival in a fitting way. In Gujarat people did make it a big festival and State Government sponsored competitions are taking place. Even foreigners are taking part in the celebrations. However, the danger relating kite flying is too many. First and foremost, know your surroundings and watch where you are going. Tripping and falling can actually result in some rather serious injuries including head trauma and broken bones in the most severe circumstances. Even in the less severe circumstances, bad cuts and sprains are certainly no walk in the park and give you testing time. Know the weather conditions that day before you even bring your kite out. Having your throat slit is statistically very rare, but it obviously has occurred and can occur when flying a kite as evidenced above. If the wind takes hold of your kite and causes it to crash down, it could also cause harm to another person, such as hitting them very hard. This could cause just bruising, or if it hits them in the eye, it could result in a very serious and potentially life-threatening injury.
Do not fly a kite near power lines because if it gets tangled, electrocution is a possibility. Standard power lines carry thousands of volts of electricity and this can be fatal to a human. If you ever have a kite get away from you and it ends up in power lines, or near one, do not attempt to retrieve it yourself. Instead call the utility company and notify them right away and they will come out and remove it. While flying a kite practice safety to ensure that your next kite-flying adventure remains fun for everyone involved. Safety is the foremost important aspect when you fly kites. The manja used in flying kites is sharp one and can cause damage to the human limps and to animals as well. Even when a kite is flying high and in the competition is cut by another kite, then the remaining thread of manja along with the kite drag around the busy streets of Metro and at times cross the railway lines and the children, without knowing the danger lurking round them, try to go behind the kite and the falling thread and face accidents as well. The two-wheeler riders suffer the most because of the injuries to their throat area by sharp kite string in different parts of the country. It is time to take such remedial measures on priority basis to avoid further fatal accidents.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
