Chinese Manja Makes for Killer Kites? Delhi Govt Imposes Ban
A 3-year-old and a motorcyclist lost their lives after getting caught up in accidents involving Chinese Manja.
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Delhi on Monday witnessed spate of incidents that saw many lose their lives in freak incidents involving Chinese “manja”.
Use of razor sharp kite-flying threads imported from China had earlier seen the Delhi High Court order the AAP government and the civic bodies to issue advisory ahead of Independence Day making the public aware of their fatal effect.
Manja Kills Three-Year-Old Girl in Delhi
Three-year-old Saanchi lost her life after her throat was slit by Manja after she attempted to look out of the car she was in on Monday. The toddler was looking out from the sunroof of the car when the incident happened.
Sanchi was rushed to the nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead by the doctors who attended to her.
A case has been registered under section 304(A) (causing death by negligence) and the police are investigating if it was ‘Chinese manja’ that took the girl’s life.
Motorcyclist Dies After His Neck Gets Slit by Kite
A 22-year-old man died on Independence Day after his neck got slit with a kite thread and he lost his balance while he was descending the Vikas Puri flyover on a motorcycle in west Delhi.
The victim, identified as Zafar Khan – a resident of Nihal Vihar – was travelling from Dwarka to his house when his neck got slit by the ‘manja’ used to fly a kite as he was descending the flyover around 4 pm, a police officer said.
He then lost balance and fell on the road as the motorbike skidded in Vikas Nagar. Zafar sustained injuries and he was rushed to DDU Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Government Calls for a Ban on Killer Manja
A day after deadly Chinese manja claimed multiple lives in the national capital, the Delhi government imposed a ban on the sale, production and storage of glass-coated threads or Chinese manja even as a blame game erupted with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claiming the Environment Secretary took seven days to clear a notification.
According to the draft notification issued by Environment Secretary Chandraker Bharti, kite flying will be permissible only with a cotton thread and natural fibre free from any metallic and glass components.
Violation of directions will be punishable with an imprisonment of up to five years or fine which may be extended to Rs 1 lakh or with both. However, sources in the LG office said the Lt Governor had approved the draft notification on 8 August and sent it back to the government the next day.
The AAP government delayed issuance of the draft notification despite the fact that the LG office had sent the notification with his approval to Environment Department on 9 August, they said, adding that notification may not make a good impact as the flying kite season is almost over with the wrapping up of Independence Day celebrations.
(With PTI inputs)
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