Delhi police crack down on shopkeepers selling Chinese, Bareilly manjhas

The Delhi Police raided nearly 10 shops in Chand Mohalla and booked five shop keepers accused of selling Chinese manjhas, which are made of nylon and plastic, and Bareilly manjhas, which have a glass or metal coating, at their stores, according to a report by The Indian Express.

Selling manjhas of Chinese and Bareilly origins have been banned in Delhi since 2016.

Those violating the ban were booked under section 5 of the Environment Protection Act. The violation of this ban could result in imprisonment up to five years or a fine up to Rs 1 lakh or even both.

“We received information about the kite sellers and sent a team to raid Chand Mohalla, a big market in Shahdara. The offenders said they didn’t know about the manjha ban. We have registered a case against them and will probe the matter,” an officer told the publication.

In 2016, animal rights group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had filed a petition at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that said, ”Due to 'manjha' being coated with glass, metals and other sharp material, these strings act as good conductors of electricity, increasing the probability of detached manjha strings getting stuck in power lines, electrocuting kite flyers and passers-by coming into contact with these strings.”

Kite flying can now only be done using a cloth or natural fibre manjhas.

In 2016, a three-year-old girl Saanchi Goyal was killed by a stray kite’s manjha. She had her head stuck out of the sunroof of a car when a piece of manjha slit her throat.

The capital has reported several manjha related accidents and deaths over the years.