Even as young and old gave themselves up to the joy of flying kites on Sankranti day, a tradition in parts of Andhra Pradesh and a rage in Hyderabad, lesser beings lay grievously injured and dying.

About 400 pigeons died and at least 700 were injured in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, by the razor-sharp string used to cut the string of the rival’s kite. This number in fact, is a vast understatement since they account for birds in a few parts of the city, mostly the crowded areas, according to bird lovers.

The fatalities among the birds, mostly low-flying ones is a new difficulty caused mainly by the Chinese-made manja, a local name for the kite string. Several pigeons were found entangled, their wings cut and some even hanging to death, unable to free themselves from the string.

According to veterans, in the past, accidents related to flying kites mainly related to street children coming to grief while chasing a free-flying kite to grab it.

A few accidents happened when those flying kites fell off the terraces. But injuries caused to birds on a widescale was a new phenomenon and they blamed manja, which is thicker, lighter and sharper than the locally made one.
Mahesh Agarwal, Secretary of Sahayog, said the manja accounted for nine out of 10 bird casualties.

As many as 40 volunteers of Sahayog are moving on two-wheelers rescuing and attending to the injured birds. They will continue to scour the city streets for three more days, as Hyderabadis continue kite-flying beyond Sankranthi day.

He demanded a ban on the Chinese string as it was dangerous to birds and had deprived households of a living by making manja.