Kite string threat: 200 birds suffer injury in a day in Delhi

New Delhi, August 17

At least 200 fresh cases of bird injuries were reported on Wednesday from different parts of the city, many of which had suffered wounds from the kite string, Old Delhi-based Charity Birds Hospital said.

The nearly 60-year-old avian hospital located in the Chandni Chowk area behind the Digamber Jain Lal Mandir said the total number of cases is likely to go up to 1,200-1,300 by tomorrow.

Nearly 500 cases of bird injuries have been reported between August 13 and 15. Kite flying is a popular sport, especially on Independence Day, during which several birds suffer injuries every year, owing to the 'killer manjha' used to fly kites.

The Delhi government had yesterday banned the kite thread, coated with powdered glass ('manjha'), after two children and a youth died on Independence Day as their throats got slit with it in separate incidents across the national capital.

"It's good that they (the government) have at least banned the manjha. But, birds suffer injuries even from simple threads. There has to be some sort of restriction on kite flying. We have to be sensitive towards these creatures also," said Sunil Jain, owner and manager of the hospital.

He said most of the injured birds are pigeons though "we also get cases of parrots, kites and eagles".

"We got 250 cases yesterday. The number is likely to go up... By tomorrow, it could reach around 1,200-1,300," he said.

"Out of the total number of cases, 60 per cent are from Old Delhi where people fly kites in huge number, followed by 20 per cent from trans-Yamuna area and the rest from other parts of Delhi," he added.

Jain said one injured peacock was also brought to the hospital from Seelampur. — PTI