Here's why birds hate Sankranti

New Delhi, Jan 14: Makar Sankranti 2019, the harvest festival is celebrated with much fervour across the country. While people enjoy the festival with much vigour, there are these birds who are at the receiving end during the festival.

Makar Sankranti, will be celebrated on January 14, wherein people of every age group will climb their rooftops to fly kites. Many are still unaware that the kite flying with glass-coated manjha is becoming death-knell for the birds.

The Chinese manjha used in the kites is made up of nylon thread coated with iron dust and glass, which makes it sharp enough to cut through any object. The Indian manjha, though capable of causing injuries, is made of cotton thread, and is considered less harmful.

Though the Chinese manjha is banned by the authorities since two years, the 'death thread' manages to sneak past the eyes of officials leaving many injured and even killing many.

In January 2018, a jeweller from Jaipur died when the manjha from a flying kite slit his throat. There have been incidents of people getting seriously injured due to this.

So this season join the movement to change the way festivals are celebrated in India. Instead of using the glass-coated nylon manjha from China, the Indian cotton manjha could be used. Kite-flying could be done before or after dawn and dusk - a time when birds are most active.

Things to keep in mind

• One shouldn't apply haldi, iodine, ointment on the manja wound as these are ineffective on the bird.
• Don't pull out the manja, because if the wound has clotted, pulling it will make the bir lose blood, and birds don't have much blood.
• In fact, problematic because if the bird needs surgical intervention, the vet has to clean it off as remnants can prove damaging when suturing the wound up.
• Just capture the bird, put a cloth on it and transport it where a doctor can do proper assessment.
• Vets can also administer water intravenously instead of your force-fed water which might flood their lungs.