Chinese manjha threat looms as kite flyers back on rooftops in festive season

With the city witnessing a dip in temperature, the skies are once again dotted with colourful kites, and the return of a deadly threat along with them. Despite years of ban imposed by the government, plastic or acrylic kite strings, commonly known as "Chinese manjha", continue to claim lives and endanger residents.

Every year, dozens of people in the city get injured and some killed, when these razor-sharp strings get entangled around necks, especially of two-wheeler riders. Flyovers, elevated roads and over-bridges have become danger zones where most such accidents occur.

The city still remembers the chilling incident of October 2023, when 28-year-old Haramritpal Singh of Verka lost his life on the BRTS bridge on Batala Road after a kite string slit his throat. Last year on January 13, Pawan Kumar, a youth from Ajnala, met a similar fate.

In response to public outrage, the Municipal Corporation had installed protective wires along the elevated road last year to stop kite strings from drifting down to the road. But those wires are now either broken or missing. Residents feel that the situation is again turning serious.

"The plastic string is a killer. Even if the government cannot stop its sale, it must at least protect two-wheeler riders. The wires tied along streetlight poles last year had reduced accidents. Now that they're gone, we feel unsafe again", said Harish, a local resident of Batala Road.

Social worker Pritpal Singh said, "The change in weather has brought kite flyers back to rooftops, but the administration is still asleep. It must wake up before another tragedy forces it into action." Residents have demanded immediate repair of safety wires along all elevated roads, strict enforcement of the ban on plastic string and awareness campaigns ahead of the festive kite-flying season.