It is Makar Sankranti, the time and the season for kite-flying revelry in west Indian states. Friends of animals and conservationists in Nashik are appealing to people across Maharashtra and Gujarat to not use nylon threads (maanjas) as part of their kite-flying apparatus, as there have been numerous accidents (some fatal) where thousands of birds have got entangled in the threads.
Shekhar Gaikwad, Bird-lover and EnthusiastAfter the kite is cut off in a pench or wrangle in the sky, it comes down and often falls on some tall trees, shrubbery or electricity lines. Birds, during their flight, get helplessly entangled in these nylon maanjas. When they struggle, the thread gets so badly enmeshed in their wings, feathers and claws that the bird cannot escape until someone notices and rescues them. If unattended, they die in a matter of time.
Gaikwad says his team of fellow conservationists have distributed pamphlets about the plight of birds in at least 90 schools in Nashik, and have been appealing to one and all to use cotton maanjas, instead of nylon ones.
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