Notification Against Chinese Manja Not Before I-Day: Govt to HC

New Delhi: The AAP government on Monday expressed its inability before the Delhi High Court to come out with an order before Independence Day prohibiting use of 'Chinese manja', a nylon thread coated with powdered glass, for flying kites.

After the submission was made by the Delhi government, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal asked the government to come up with suggestions to prevent accidents due to use of Chinese manja in the days running upto Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan.

"You (government) come up with suggestions to prevent accidents caused due to the Chinese manja, as kites are flown extensively during Independence Day and Raskha Bandhan (in this month)," the bench said.

It asked the Delhi government's senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra to give the suggestions on August 10 so that it can pass some directions keeping in mind the festival.

"The court will issue directions to see that no untoward incident occurs this year during kite flying, as the Delhi government is about to come out with their notification. Maybe from next year the rule would be in place," the bench said.

The observations came after Mehra informed the court that the Delhi government has issued a draft notification for banning Chinese manja and only allowing kite-flying with a cotton thread or natural fibre, "free from metallic or glass components".

The government said that the draft notification was in the public domain inviting objections from the stakeholders. "To implement it (the notification) in next four days is next to impossible.

We need time. May be keeping in view the Independence Day we can issue advertisements and put hoardings to make the public aware about disadvantage of Chinese manjas," it said, adding that "it will surely take the issue forward".

The AAP government's response came in the backdrop of the court's August 2 order as to when it will issue a notification banning threads coated with powdered glass.

The court was hearing a plea by Zulfiquar Hussain who has alleged that earlier "victims" of the synthetic thread were birds, "but now humans are also under threat" and referred to a recent death of a 28-year-old man in East Delhi whose throat allegedly got slit by such a thread while riding a motorbike.