Raising concerns over ‘nylon kite strings (manja)’ causing injuries to people, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court recently ‘deprecated’ the Maharashtra government’s inaction to form a law or policy to curb the menace. Citing the upcoming Makar Sankranti festival, it directed the police machinery and civic bodies to take strict action against the use of nylon manja.
The bench directed the authorities under its jurisdiction to be ‘alert’ and ‘on guard’ for at least a month so that “use of Nylon Manja can be averted”.
It also said that establishments engaged in selling kites and manjas shall be kept under vigil and appropriate actions be initiated as per law against those supplying, selling, and even using nylon strings. It asked the police and civic authorities to maintain a record of the steps taken during the said period and report its compliance during the next date of hearing.
A bench of Justices Mangesh S Patil and Prafulla S Khubalkar on January 8 passed the order on a suo motu PIL initiated after taking cognisance of injuries and deaths due to the use of nylon manja.
Government Pleader A B Girase provided a progress report from a few districts indicating that steps were taken to curb the use of synthetic or nylon manja to fly kites. He added that offences had been registered, combing operations had been undertaken and awareness camps were held in educational institutes, and dedicated cells to deal with the problem were also set up.
Girase conceded before the high court that while the suppliers of nylon manja had been arrested, the police could not nab the manufacturers.
“This is an unending process. The menace of nylon manja can easily be appreciated as the society has been coming across with the incident of the persons getting injured. We, for the time being, are exploring the directives to be issued in the light of ensuing ‘Makar Sankranti’, which is the auspicious day, when there is an increase in the number of persons indulging in flying kites,” the bench noted and asked authorities to take strict actions.
Posting further hearing to January 16, it also noted that despite earlier directions, the state lawyer was unable to inform the court about the government’s stand on the issue and the matter regarding passing a law or formulation of a policy to impose a ban on the use of nylon manja, while the same has been done by 14 other states.
“This is unbecoming of the state government. In spite of the fact that (a) few other states have already done that, indifference of the State regarding the issue is deprecated,” the bench observed.
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