Hyderabad: GHSPC rescues over 650 birds in last few years

Soudharm Bhandari of GHSPCA on Thursday said that injuries to birds are due to Chinese Nylon Manja and glass coated thread, which are popularly used in kite fights, a popular event during the Sankranti festivities.

Hyderabad: In the last few years, well-known animal welfare organization Greater Hyderabad Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GHSPCA) has rescued over 650 birds, which were injured from glass coated Manja while flying kites during Sankranti celebrations.

Soudharm Bhandari of GHSPCA on Thursday said that injuries to birds are due to Chinese Nylon Manja and glass coated thread, which are popularly used in kite fights, a popular event during the Sankranti festivities.

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A large portion of Chinese manja and glass coated thread used in kite flying goes wasted when they get entangled in trees. This is proving to fatal for birds and even in animals who get caught or trapped in the entangled thread.

The National Green Tribunal has imposed a ban on Chinese Manja and glass coated thread, which was declared on January 13, 2016 under Section 5 of Environment Protection Act 1986. As per the Section 15 of the Act, any person found to be violating the rules is liable for imprisonment up to 5 years or fine of up to Rs one lakh or both.

“We request the kite flyers to collect all the wastage of threads and throw it in a dustbin rather than leaving it in open space. We have been doing rounds all over the city and look for the bird injury or those trapped in thread and hanging on trees,” he said.

Veterinary doctor at GHSPCA said most of the birds take weeks to recover from the glass injury as it affects their ability to fly. Over 150 Birds were rescued last year and among them 50 percent of them died during treatment.

Year-wise details of rescued birds: 2017: 106 birds; 2018: 156; 2019: 57, 2020: 46, 2021: 56, 2022: 67, 2023: 72 and in 2024: 174 birds.

How to protect birds during Sankranti:

• Fly kites in afternoon, as movement of bird species is less compared to evening time.

• Discard waste materials from including the nylon, manja, thread etc after the celebration.

• Avoid rescuing a bird with a knife/ blade, as it may injure the bird also.

• If you find an injured bird, alert through emergency contact of animal Welfare organization

• Stop flying kites as Night time.