PIL filed in Orissa High Court to ban kite flying

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Jan 23:

A Public Interest Petition (PIL) has been filed in the Orissa High Court to ban kite flying in the state. The petitioner has also demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for the parents of the 6-year-old girl who was recently killed by the ‘glass coated manja’ on NH-5 near Cuttack.

Six-year-old Swetalina Behera died after a glass-coated ‘manja’ thread slit her throat while she was travelling with her parents on a motorcycle on NH-5 near Telengapentha, under Cuttack Sadar police station in Odisha on January 18 this year.

The PIL filed by Bibhuti Charan Mohanty states that every year fatalities are reported due to injuries by kite thread, while many others sustain severe injuries due to the sharp thread used in kite flying.

Within 3 years, several deaths, including a lawyer, have been reported from Barang’s Madhuban area, Cuttack’s Ring road and Purighati Police station due to accidents from kite thread, the PIL states.

Yet the district administration has taken no concrete action against such a practice, the petition says. The negligence of district administration has led to many deaths due to kite flying. In this scenario, kite flying should be totally banned, argues the petition.

The Home Secretary, Cuttack District administration, Police commissioner, Cuttack DCP and Sadar Thana IIC have been made respondents in the PIL.

Meanwhile, the Cuttack district administration had banned use of manja (glass coated) string and plastic strings for flying kites in Cuttack city on January 20 in view of the six-year-old’s death.