Child sustains string injury, PPCB raids shops

On a day when another child sustained injuries from kite string, the Regional Office of the Punjab Pollution Control Board launched a campaign against the sale, use and storage of Chinese strings under which, apart from surprise checking of shops, people were also made aware about the dangers of using the string.

Five-year-old Jalandhar resident Vivansh sustained injuries on his eyes, ears and nose on Friday when he was hit by a kite string at the Guru Nanakpura flyover while going somewhere on a scooter with his parents. Seriously injured Vivansh was rushed to a hospital where he received eight stitches. His mother Suman also sustained injuries on his hand.

Just a fortnight ago, daily wager Harpreet Singh succumbed to kite string injuries when he was going to his office on his scooter on January 11 and his throat was slit and he died at a Chandigarh hospital a day later. Various people have sustained injuries during the kite season due to the use of Chinese string. The rural police had also run intensive campaigns, raiding shops to curb the sale of the killer string.

During the campaign today, PPCB XEN Sandeep Kumar said in view of Basant Panchami, a special campaign was run against the storage and use of banned Chinese string in Jalandhar on the guidelines of the PPCB. During this campaign, surprise checks were conducted on shops selling strings in the city on Friday.

XEN Sandeep Kumar said the government had imposed a ban on the sale, purchase, storage and use of China string. Those violating the ban will be prosecuted under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, which can lead to imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of Rs 1 lakh, or both.