Fewer bird injuries seen this Sankranti

Mumbai: Despite the glass-coated manja (kite string) being excluded from the ban, less number of birds have been reported injured at the trust-run BSPCA hospital in Parel this Makar Sankranti, said veterinarians. Even as the police conducted a recce of manja-selling shops to check if the banned manja was being sold, bird lovers and NGOs prepped medical facilities for the injured birds.

Lt. Colonel (Dr) J.C. Khanna, secretary and in-charge, BSPCA Hospital, said, “There are 41 injured birds undergoing treatment at the hospital; the injured birds include 27 pigeons, seven kites, two owls, three cuckoos (koyals) and two parrots. Last year, though there were around 70 calls regarding injured birds, they were significantly less than previous years.”

The state police has issued an advisory to the public and also pleaded on social media not to use Chinese manja during the Sankranti festival as it is not only harmful to people but also to birds and small animals.

Sunish Subramanian Kunju of the NGO PAWS Mumbai said, “This year, there were no instances of birds injured during the Makar Sankranti festival, thanks to awareness rega-rding the glass-coated ma-nja which wasn’t used.”

Activists highlighted that birds get trapped in the glass-coated strings hanging from trees or lying in other areas after the kite festival. The National Green Tribunal had banned Chinese manja in the country in July 2017.

Nikunj Sharma, associate director of PETA, sa-id, “The Chinese thread made of plastic is banned but the cotton thread coated with glass called ‘Ba-reilly ka manja’ has been excluded from the ban.”