Other Indian cities including Jaipur, Bareilly and Amritsar have also banned the thread. Owing to human and animal casualties, Mumbai was among the first cities to ban manja in 2009. The unsafe kite string has already claimed a human life this year. “Unlike cotton strings these are non-biodegradable, don’t break easily, and continue to cause injuries months after the festival.” Nikunj Sharma, a campaigner for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) India, said the use of ‘Chinese manja’ made of nylon instead of cotton has made the injuries severe. Kite festival or Uttarayan in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, celebrated on 14 January. “Fly kites in open grounds, carefully dispose strings entangled in trees in your neighbourhood and use uncoated cotton threads.” However, some precautions can make kite-flying safer, Pathak says. With millions celebrating the festival and feeling very strongly about it, people are often indifferent to bird safety messages. The festival also features prominently in the state tourism calendar and since 1989 the city of Ahmedabad has been hosting International Kite Festival. On the day, many keep a leader board to keep a tally of their score and fly kites late into the night. Kite flyers feel passionately about Uttarayan and eagerly await for 14 January. Families usually spend their entire day on the terraces and rooftops. In Gujarat, the festival is strongly embedded in local culture and cuts across religious differences in arguably one of the most polarised states of India. India’s prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted about the festival as Gujarat’s chief minister last year. Mehul Pathak, founder of the Vibrant Kite Club that promotes kite flying, said the growing number of the festival’s human and bird victims was disturbing but “people are still crazy about it”. Injured birds leave fledglings starving, further impacting their numbers.” “The eggs of the white rumped vultures hatch in January and the birds scout for food for fledglings at least three times a day. “Vultures are on the decline throughout the world due to diclofenac, here they face an additional danger,” he said. Shastri said there are records of injured Egyptian vultures and Eurasian griffons, while the critically-endangered white rumped vultures are victims every year. Of particular concern is the festival’s impact on vultures, already endangered around the globe. Among the species rescued in recent years by the JCT are sarus cranes, peacocks, birds of prey such as peregrine falcons, Steppes eagles, Indian spotted eagles migratory birds such as ibises, flamingos, pelicans, lapwings and several species of geese and ducks (including bar headed geese, grey lag geese, comb ducks and whistling teal ducks) among others. Karthik Shastri, from the Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat said at least 100 species of bird, including many threatened species, have been injured.
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