On Uttarayana eve, Gujarat High Court bans glass coated and nylon manja too

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today also banned the use of glass coated and nylon manja for kite flying.

The court had already banned Chinese manja and string and Chinese lantern (tukkal). The court ordered to ban glass coated manja despite the state government opposing such ban before it.

On the eve of Uttarayana, the festival of kites,the division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice A. G. Uraizee in its interim order on a PIL demanding several restrictions on kite flying during Uttarayana, ordered the state authorities to ensure ban on the use of glass coated and nylon manja in addition to Chinese manja and tukkal.

The PIL number 253/2016 filed by Siddhrajsinh Chudasama demanded restriction on such manja alleging it to be a major cause of birds deaths and tukkal for fire incidents and also limit kite flying during Uttarayan only from selected places like playgrounds and parks etc. It has also prayed the court to restrict kite flying activity from 5 to 7 in the morning and same period during evening to minimize the damage done to birds as they fly mostly during these periods. It has also demanded for a mass awareness campaign about the harms of using glass coated manja.

Additional Advocate General P K Jani, who appeared in the court on behalf of the state, had argued that the glass coated manja should be allowed for kite flying. However counsel of the petitioner Bhunesh Rupera opposed him saying that the stiffness of the manja can be attained with alternative things like rice glue.

Notably, the court had already banned tukkal for several fire incidents caused by it and use of Chinese manja and string for several human deaths.

DeshGujarat