New Delhi:The Delhi High Court today said that it is concerned over the use of “razor-sharp metal-coated thread to fly kites”, asking the Delhi government why it cannot issue an advisory cautioning people against it.

A bench of Justices G Rohini and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said that Discoms have issued an advisory in connection with metal-coated manja used for flying kites.

“Why can’t the Delhi government do the same? Your draft notification for complete ban of Chinese manja is there but we are concerned with razor-sharp thread used to fly kites and not on use of Chinese manja,” the bench said.

It said that since the government will take time for it’s notification, it would pass some detailed directions keeping in mind the kite-flying festival this month.

The court’s oral observations came while it was going through the Delhi government’s draft notification which has recommended complete ban on Chinese manja and only allowing kite-flying with a cotton thread or natural fibre, “free from metallic or glass components”.

The draft notification was produced before the court after it said it wanted to peruse the same following inability expressed by the AAP government to come out with an order before Independence Day prohibiting use of Chinese manja.

The court had also asked the Delhi government to come up with suggestions to prevent accidents due to use of Chinese manja, a nylon thread coated with powdered glass, in the days running upto Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan.

The court was hearing a plea by Zulfiquar Hussain who has alleged that earlier “victims” of the synthetic thread were birds, “but now humans are also under threat” and referred to a recent death of a 28-year-old man in East Delhi whose throat allegedly got slit by such a thread while riding a motorbike.

The petitioner has also referred to deaths allegedly caused as a result of injuries from the thread in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

PTI