In an attempt to “thwart” the use of prohibited Chinese nylon and glass-coated strings during the upcoming Uttarayan festivities, police personnel will be deployed to oversee sale of kite-flying items during the night hours across the state and will be monitored daily by the Director General of Police, the Home Department informed the Gujarat High Court Friday.
Home Department under-secretary Shraddha Parmar, in an affidavit filed before the court, stated that “continuous steps” were being taken to ensure that the manufacture, stocking and sale of prohibited articles are stalled and to ensure the safety of citizens, animals and birds.
The affidavit added that it “has been observed that certain make-shift stalls would endeavour to sell Uttarayan-related products, including prohibited articles, between 8pm and 1 am” and there is an increased footfall at these stores during these hours. Hence, dedicated teams of police officers will be deployed during the duration between January 11 and 13 to ensure that the sale of prohibited articles is stalled.
Hearing a PIL seeking direction to prohibit the use of nylon threads as well as kite strings coated with harmful substances, the High Court Wednesday directed the Home Department as well as District Magistrates of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Gandhinagar to file affidavits “to demonstrate the steps” taken to not only arrest the sellers of the banned items, but also manufacturers and store-keepers and those stocking up “Chinese lantern, Chinese manjha, plastic threads, nylon threads and threads coated with glass and other dangerous substances”.
Advocate Bhunesh Rupera, the counsel of petitioner Siddharajsinh Chudasma, told The Indian Express that despite a High Court-ordered ban on the sale and use of Chinese kite strings (nylon threads) and all other threads that are coated with harmful substances like glass from January 2017, the interpretation of the order has been restricted to the Chinese strings and sky lanterns.
“The honorable High Court, on Friday, clarified that the prohibitory order meant that all kite strings, including nylon and also cotton threads that are coated with glass or other harmful substances, are prohibited and should be cracked down on… The court has sought a further action implementation report from the state government for further hearing on January 13, which is a day prior to Uttarayan,” Rupera said.
He added that although the vendors, through their advocate, urged the court to consider that the prohibition on all kinds of “coated” threads would mean that the celebrations of the festival would be disrupted, the court held that the safety of citizens, animals and birds was to be considered. “The court also orally told the state to ensure that not only the users and vendors but the manufacturers of the strings coated with harmful substances like glass should be booked and all such threads be confiscated before the festivity next week,” Rupera said.
The state informed the court in its affidavit Friday that from December 21 last year, several offences have been registered against manufacturers, stockists, sellers as well as individuals for manufacture, supply, sale and use of prohibited articles.
According to the affidavit, 46 offences against stockists, 48 against sellers and 93 FIRs against 120 individuals have been registered across the state between December 21 and 31, 2024.
From January 1-8, police have registered 34 offences for manufacturing prohibited articles and 246 FIRs against 302 individuals. The government also informed the court that the police had been holding daily review meetings for the work done by the local police force and the district administration along with using social media to sensitise citizens and also undertaken awareness drives for two-wheelers and school children to ensure safety of others during Uttarayan.
Following the state assurance, the DGP issued a public advisory that the use of Chinese threads, synthetic strings as well as glass-coated strings was an “offence” and sought information on the sale or use of the prohibited items.
On January 7, in another affidavit before the HC, the state government submitted that 243 accused were arrested from January 16-December 31, 2024 in different districts. In its Wednesday order, the HC had remarked that the collective action taken report “did not give the correct picture”.
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