Nagpur: The perils of kite-flying season in Nagpur have escalated due to the harmful repercussions of nylon manja, leaving several individuals injured. Nagpur police have pointed fingers at the manufacturing hubs in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh for producing this hazardous string, which finds its way to Maharashtra’s market. Despite the State Government’s ban on the sale and use of nylon manja last year, its circulation continues, posing significant risks to the safety of residents.
Nagpur DCP (EOW and Cybercrime) Archit Chandak gave an oral submission before the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on Friday, after the court summoned him over police failure to stop the sale of nylon manja in the city. The DCP told the court that they were closely tracking all activities involving the sale of nylon manja and “bulk of its stock is arriving from places like Surat in Gujarat and also from UP”.
Gold Rate
Thursday 09 Jan. 2025
A division bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri asked the Maharashtra Chief Secretary to speak to his counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat and sensitize them over the sale of nylon manja which was banned as per directives of National Green Tribunal (NGT) of January 2020.
Before adjourning the hearing till January 10, the judges also orally censured the Maharashtra Government for failure to control the menace of the deadly string. The directives came during hearing of a suo motu PIL based on reports by local media regarding deaths of a 23-year-old engineering student, Pranay Thakre, and Saurabh Patankar(22) in 2021 after their throats were slit by the deadly string on roads.
On Friday, amicus curiae Deven Chauhan informed the judges that the manja had slit the throat of a 45-year-old carpenter Satish Yadav on January 2 when he was returning home in a village near Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. Yadav underwent a three-hour surgery at a hospital in Nagpur to repair his trachea, which was reported by the media on Friday.
“Despite steps taken by the Maharashtra Government, the sale of this deadly thread continues unabated on various online platforms. We at our office tried to get delivery of the manja and many were ready to offer it clandestinely. Unfortunately, the government acts only when we bring the injuries suffered by the citizens and animals to the court’s notice. Why do the government authorities not direct its cyber cells to keep a tab on its sale when NGT has already banned the manja?” he said.
Appealing to the court to suggest the State Legislature to frame laws making manufacture, sale and use of nylon manja a serious offence that would attract stringent punishment, the amicus curiae said this thread stays intact for years and many citizens store and use it for years.
Expressing deep concern over the injuries being suffered by the citizens, the judges directed Additional Government Pleader Shishir Uke to present DCP (Cybercrime) in the court.
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) counsel Ravi Sanyal informed the court that no report says the nylon manja was being manufactured in the state, but its stock is coming from Gujarat and UP where kite flying is popular.
The HC then directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and city police to inform it on steps taken to enforce the ban on sale and use of nylon manja.
