Birds injured as ban fails to check Chinese manja sale

PUNE: City-based bird rescuer Anil Avachite heaved a sigh of relief when the National Green Tribunal imposed a nationwide ban on Chinese manja last year.

He was delighted that lives of several birds will no longer be compromised for the joy of humankind.

However, in the past two days, he has rescued nearly ten birds that were injured due to the manja.

“The authorities have failed to implement the ban as Chinese manja is still available in the market. The ban has in fact led to rise in the price of Chinese manja. Earlier, the manja which was available for Rs 10 is now sold at Rs 50 by black marketeers,” Avachite said.

He claimed that Chinese manja was available in areas such as Camp, Nana Peth, Bohri Ali and

Kasba Peth

.

Agreeing to Avachite, Arvind Salvi, another bird rescuer, claimed that the ban has hardly had any impact on the sale of Chinese manja as shops are openly selling the thread. “My mornings start with phone calls from frantic citizens talking about birds in distress. I have rescued at least seven injured birds in the past two days entangled in trees due to the manja. Their wings are torn and primary feathers are damaged as a result of which they cannot fly,”

Salvi

said.

Ankush

Dubey

, a veterinarian at the centre, said, “We also receive several calls from different areas about birds in distress. These calls are directed to volunteers in that area. Although less, several birds have been injured this year too.”

However, Nikunj

Sharma

, head of public policy at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (

PETA

), said that a lot of people are confusing cotton thread coated with powdered glass as Chinese manja.

“Only the nylon thread coated with powdered glass, which is commonly called the Chinese manja, has been banned by the NGT and not the cotton thread coated with glass. However, the cotton manja is equally dangerous. We have accounts of at least three victims from Maharashtra who claimed to have received injuries from the cotton thread coated with glass,” Sharma said.

He added that ground reports from activists in the state claim that Chinese manja is mostly off the shelves. Sharma appealed to rescuers to send samples of manja to the PETA office which can be analysed by the organization.