Hyderabad: The popular festival of kites, Sankranti, is fast approaching, but brings with it the threat of the ‘Chinese manja’, which, despite being banned, continues to be a popular choice due to its durability and low cost. City dealers have stocked up on the same, with over 180 shops in popular kite hubs of Goshamahal, Puranapul and Old City found selling the banned manja through backdoor channels.
The Chinese manja, or tangus, is made of synthetic material or nylon rather than cotton used in traditional manjas, and then treated with glass and metal to make them sharper.
Sources said that in view of the Sankranti festival, wholesale dealers stocked up on kilos of Chinese manja as far as three months back and recently distributed the same to retail vendors.
Mahesh Singh, a resident of Mangalhat, said of his experience: “A couple of days back I tried to pull the Chinese manja that was entangled with the live wires at a electricity pole before my house. When I forcibly pulled it using a plastic pipe, the tangus manja did not break; when I pulled it even harder, there was a short circuit in the pole. The live wire came in contact with the manja, and only then did it melt and break.”
Dealers said that the Chinese manja is produced in two main factories, located in Delhi and Nagpur of Maharashtra.
“Dealers from city have purchased a bulk quantity of Chinese manja worth lakhs of rupees from these factories and have already supplied to the shops. More than 75 per cent of manja has already sold while the remaining 25 per cent is on sale at shops across the city,” M. Satyanarayana, who manufactures and sells the traditional manja, said.
Another manja maker, requesting anonymity, said: “The bulk dealers have purchased three ‘phirki (whole thread spin)’ that weigh two kg each at '180 per kg and are selling the same for '1,000 to the customers. The most popular brands are Mona Fill, Mono Gold, Tuntun Mono Ultra and Mona Ultra. Tuntun is manufactured in factories in Delhi and Nagpur on a large scale and is distributed to various cities and states.”
A kite seller in Puranapul said that in around 180 shops located from Bhoiguda Kaman to Puranapul and Jumairath, 90 per cent of the shops continue to stock the Chinese manja.
“The police recently raided Satynarayan Patang Ghar and Bajaj Patang Ghar but could only seize 40 ‘phirki’ of Chinese manja, worth '45,000. As bulk dealers already distributed the manja long back, it may be difficult for the police to seize bulk quantities of the Chinese manja,” the kite seller said.
A woman, who sells kits in Bhoiguda, said that she has decided not to sell the Chinese manja due to the threat to the lives of humans and birds. “Sankrantri is a big festival for us. We do not want these Chinese manja to cause any harm to human or any animals. I request the police to find these persons playing with the lives of human and creatures to fill their pockets,” she said.
Nanda Kumari, a kite enthusiast at Dhobighat, said she always stocks up only on the popular Bareilly manja, which is coated with glass and spices.
“Kite enthusiasts should stop using Chinese manja that not only kill hundreds of birds but have also taken human lives. I have been flying kites for over 13 years with my husband and kids. This time, I purchased the Zanjeer Sankalp manja, that costs '600 per phirki,” Kumari said.
